Friends Reunited
by angel of moozik
Summary: After splitting up with Ron and having most of the wizarding world against her, Hermione meets an old friend. Hermione/Neville
1. Chapter 1

**This was originally written as a one-shot before I decided I wanted to carry on with it. I know this chapter's very short, but I have the next few chapters already written and they're quite a bit longer. Review if you like it, don't bother if you don't.**

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Sitting in the Leaky Cauldron, Hermione was still nursing her first drink, trying to work out how it had come to this. A week ago, she had told Ron that she wasn't prepared to marry him and add another seven Weasley children to the family just yet.

"_I want to have a job Ron," she screamed._

"_All Weasley women are mothers Hermione," he shouted back. "My mother never had a job, Ginny doesn't have a job, Fleur doesn't have a job, so why should you?"_

"_I'm not a Weasley woman yet Ron. I've been offered a job in Hogwarts and I intend to accept it."_

"_Well maybe I don't want to marry you if you're going to do that," Ron retorted quickly._

"_Well maybe I don't want to marry you then," she snapped. Her voice softened as she sank into a chair. "It shouldn't be this hard to make these decisions. We should support each other."_

_Ron turned red and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him._

Not wanting to face Molly Weasley's wrath, Hermione had disapparated soon after, and that was the last she had seen of the Weasleys.

It hadn't been the last time she'd heard of them though. Despite not knowing where she was living, Mrs Weasley and Ginny had sent howlers everywhere.

"_How dare you do this to us, after all our family's been through."_

"_Ron's back with Lavender now, not that you care."_

Ginny had even given stories to the wizarding magazines, which had given Hermione a shock the first time she'd walked into Diagon Alley and seen hundreds of pictures of her face staring at her. They weren't the most flattering photos of her either, to make matters worse! So now Hermione was hated by what felt like the whole wizarding world. She probably wasn't far off. You couldn't offend Harry Potter's brother in law and get away with it. What was the point in even going to work at Hogwarts if the pupils weren't going to listen to her and everyone hated her?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a shadow blocking her light. Probably someone else who was offended on Ron's behalf.

"What now?" she snapped.

She looked up and saw a familiar face, who didn't look angry, just confused.

"Neville!" she exclaimed. "Sorry! I thought you'd be another person coming to tell me what a heartless person I am."

"Why?" asked Neville. "What have you done?"

"Oh just offended everyone in the world because I broke up with Ron. How haven't you heard about it?"

"I've been travelling with Luna. Actually," he said, looking down at his drink, "we split up too, but only her father's upset about it so it's not as bad as your breakup."

"But Neville, you and Luna are meant to be together. Everyone in school knew it."

"Everyone said the same about you and Ron too though," Neville replied with a small laugh. "You're joining us in September aren't you? I'm sure I heard Horace mention it. Actually, he doesn't stop talking about it: _Brilliant girl, useless at potions, but brilliant at everything else_. You're still one of his favourites."

"I was not useless at potions!" Hermione said indignantly.

"I know, I know," Neville said. "He hasn't changed at all though, it's just how he is. You know that."

"Yes," sighed Hermione. "Your impression was dead-on though. I'm impressed," she laughed. "Still," she said, the smile leaving her face, "I don't think I'm going to take the job. All the students, and teachers for that matter, will hate me."

"Come on Hermione," Neville said. "You're a bigger person than that. If you don't take the job, this whole Ron thing will have been for nothing. And besides," he added. "Anyone who gives you a hard time, I'll sort them out. I can be quite a scary professor when I want to be," he said, pulling a strict face.

Hermione laughed. "You're right Neville. I'm sorry; you came in here for a quiet drink and you got me ranting."

"It's alright, I don't mind," Neville replied. "And I'm glad you're coming to Hogwarts. I can show you around."

"Has it changed much then?" she asked.

Neville blushed. "Well, no, not really."

"Well, I'd still like that," Hermione smiled. "It'll be nice to have a friend!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Well this is the "characters get drunk and do something stupid" chapter. I hope you like it! If you do, review. Don't bother if you don't.**

**Thanks for the review, and to the people who added this story to their favourites/alerts.**

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That same night, Neville offered Hermione the spare bedroom in his flat.

"You can't live in the Leaky Cauldron all summer Hermione, it'll cost you a fortune!" he insisted.

"We've only just met again tonight Neville, I don't want you to feel you have to do this," she said. "I don't want to get in your way."

"Honestly," Neville replied. "I don't mind. Besides, Luna's moved her collection of rare magical horns out last week, so there's plenty of room. Come on," he said, noticing that she seemed to be warming to the idea. "It'll be like Hogwarts again."

Hermione finally agreed, suspecting that Neville was probably lonely without Luna, and moved all her things in straight away.

Despite, their initial friendliness in the bar, the first few days were awkward. Although they made polite conversation, both Hermione and Neville felt a bit shy around each other. They'd never known each other very well in Hogwarts; he was friendlier with Harry and Ron than her.

One night, Hermione decided to do something about the awkwardness. She cooked dinner for herself and Neville and they sat down to eat together, something they hadn't done since the first day she'd moved in.

The conversation was slow at first, until they began to talk about Hogwarts.

"So which professors are still there that I know?" Hermione asked.

"Well, McGonagall obviously, although she's not teaching now she's headmistress," Neville replied, becoming more animated. "Slughorn's sill there too, and Trelawney and Firenze, Vectra and I think that's about it I think. Oh, and Hagrid of course, although Luna was offered his job."

"Was she?" Hermione asked, surprised. "Does she even know any real magical creatures?"

Neville's face darkened.

"Of course she does," he said coldly. "She's not stupid."

A silence fell over the table for a minute.

"Sorry," Neville mumbled. "I'm too used to defending her."

"I shouldn't have been so rude, Neville" Hermione said. "_I'm _sorry. Anyway," she said, trying to steer the conversation back to something that would make him happy, "Who's teaching transfiguration if McGonagall…Minerva isn't?"

"Dunno yet," Neville mumbled through a mouthful of potato. "They tried out a student teacher last year, Daisy Gerrish, but she was very nervous, which you can't afford to be, and one of the Slytherins turned her hair into seaweed and she ran out crying. She won't be coming back this year I don't think. There were interviews, but…" he coughed. "This is excellent pie Hermione."

"Thanks. Food always tastes better when it's made the muggle way I think. Who teaches Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

"Bernard Stokes. He's head of Ravenclaw, muggle born, very nice. Been there about three years I think."

"Oh," Hermione said. "That only leaves me and the transfiguration professor as the new teachers. But still, I'm glad I'm not going to be the only new one. It's always hard not knowing anyone, but maybe the new professor and I will become friends."

"Mmm" said Neville, looking away. "You know me anyway though, so you'll be alright. More wine?" he asked, pointing his wand at her glass.

Hermione decided that as she and Neville seemed to be getting more comfortable with each other, they should go out after dinner instead of just heading off to bed. She didn't have many suitable clothes; she'd left them all at The Burrow, but it didn't matter; she wasn't trying to impress anyone anyway. She managed to find a smart purple top and a knee length black skirt amongst all the hoodies and old jeans. She tried to do something with her hair, but after getting the brush stuck several times, she left it as it was.

"I need to buy some new clothes before I start teaching," she said to Neville. "This is all I have that's half-decent."

Neville looked up, new glass of wine in his hand.

"Hmm I think the male students would have a hard time concentrating on the lesson if you were dressed like that," he laughed. She looked to different to how she had only a few years ago in school. She still had the huge bushy hair and the little crease between her eyebrows when she was thinking, but she stood up taller now, not slouching and the worried frown he remembered was replaced by a warm smile.

"Neville? Hello?" She laughed.

"Sorry," he smiled. "Let's go."

Hermione chose to go to a muggle pub after finding out that Neville had never been to one. When they got there it was full and everyone was crowded around the TV.

"Ugh," Hermione groaned, wrinkling up her nose. "There must be a football match on."

"That's that sport Dean likes, yeah?" Neville asked.

"Yeah, the only sport more boring than quidditch," she laughed. "You go and get that table in the corner and I'll get some drinks."

Neville sat down where Hermione had pointed. He was glad that Hermione had taken the initiative to do something about the awkwardness between them. He felt completely relaxed now. It reminded him of the days when the group of them used to sit around in Hogwarts. It was comfortable and he never thought he'd feel so at ease with anyone after the gang split up after school.

He was brought out of his daydream by Hermione slamming a tray of drinks on the table.

"I didn't know what you liked," she said "so I got a variety."

"That's great. "I've never had some of these before," he said, downing a shot.

Two hours later, the two new friends had become even more comfortable around each other; they were leaning on each other and giggling.

"It's funny," slurred Hermione. "I never liked drinking before I split up with Ron, but now it's my favourite thing to do."

Neville laughed hysterically.

"You're right, that _is_ funny! But you mentioned Ron and that's not allowed! Have a punishment drink," he laughed, pushing one towards her.

Hermione finished the drink and slammed the glass down on the table.

"I hate all men Neville. Do you know what I hate? Men! But not you, you're lovely. And you have nice arms. I don't know how your female students pay attention to _your_ lessons."

Neville was twisting around examining his arms. "I like my arms too. And your male students will have trouble concentrating too."

"I know, you said earlier," she giggled. "That's why I said it. And because I like your arms."

"You like my arms?" Neville asked.

"Yes, but I hate all men!"

"Do you hate me?"

"No Neville, you're special! I only really hate Ron!"

"Don't say Ron!" Neville shouted. "What?" he said to the football fans who'd turned round. "No one in this pub is allowed to say Ron or they'll have me and my arms to deal with! She likes my arms," he said proudly, pointing at Hermione.

Everyone turned away; the TV was more interesting than the two loud drunks in the corner. Neville tried to have another drink, but there was nothing in the glass except a slice of lemon.

"That's disgusting," he said to Hermione, who was pointing and laughing. "I need something to take the taste away."

Hermione kissed him, ignoring the wolf whistles from the whole pub.

"Did that work?" she asked.

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**Don't worry, they're not going to get together...yet anyway! That would be far too easy for them!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Again, thanks for the review and adding to alerts and stuff. There's not really a lot to say about this chapter, except I hope you enjoy it!**

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The next morning, Hermione and Neville had a talk and decided to ignore their kiss and count it as a drunken mistake. They spent the rest of the summer together as friends, with no suggestion of romance. Hermione found it easier being friends with Neville than she'd found it with Ron and Harry. She could laugh more and she didn't feel like she had to know everything and be in charge. There was also the perks of Neville having nice arms, or nice everything actually. Even though they'd decided they were just friends, Hermione could still admire his looks, couldn't she?

Neville liked having Hermione as a friend too. She was a lot of fun, something he'd never realised while they were at school and she was easy to talk to. She was a bit bossy sometimes, but he didn't mind. It gave his life more structure, unlike when he was with Luna. Hermione was very pretty too, which made it easier to overlook the bossiness. He knew they were only ever going to be friends, but he didn't mind. That was what he wanted anyway; he'd never really had a best friend in school and only now was he finding out how good it was to have one. They'd had their arguments of course, but they'd always made up straight away and they were both the happiest they'd ever been.

...

It was the day before term started at Hogwarts and Hermione and Neville were packing. It was a difficult task, as Hermione insisted on packing the muggle way and was making neat piles, while Neville was doing it with magic and was sending clothes flying around the flat and knocking over Hermione's things.

"Nev," Hermione shouted from her room. "If you're going to hit me in the face with your shirts, make sure it's a nice one."

"Hey," he replied. "That's a good shirt!"

"Oh yes, orange and green go so well together, especially when the pattern looks like my gran's carpet," she laughed. "Honestly," she said, folding the shirt and handing it to Neville, "You should get to one of my classes. I could get you to perform that charm more accurately after just one lesson."

"We'll see," Neville smirked. "You haven't started yet."

"Shush Neville! Be nice!" Hermione said. "I'm so nervous!"

"Come on Mione. You know you'll be amazing. The first lesson's the hardest, but once you do one, you get into it and it's all fine. Come on," he said, giving her a hug. "If I can do it, you definitely can."

"Thanks Nev," Hermione sniffed, aware that Neville's arms were holding her tightly.

"No problem," Neville smiled. "Now, help me with my packing."

...

The next morning, they arrived at King's Cross early, before anyone else.

"Now when the train gets her, you find us a compartment in the staff carriage. I have to get all the Hufflepuffs on…"

"Wait, you're head of Hufflepuff?" Hermione asked.

"Acting head. There aren't any former Hufflepuffs teaching, so they've asked me to do it until they find one."

"So the new professor isn't a Hufflepuff? I hope he or she's a Gryffindor." Hermione said.

"Hmm I don't know," Neville replied quietly. "Anyway," he said quickly "I'll come and find you when we're done. Minerva will get the Gryffindors on, even though you'll be their head of house. They won't know who you are yet, so there's no point you doing it."

Hermione would have pretended she already knew this, had anyone else told her, but she just nodded.

"What do I do when we get to the school?" she asked.

"You'll go in a boat with Minerva," he replied. "I'll see you in the Great Hall for Sorting.

Some students walked past looking lost. Neville jumped up.

"Are you new? I can tell by your scared faces," he smiled. "There are some other new pupils over there by that arch. I'm sure they'll want to make friends; go and talk to them."

He turned to their parents. "I'm Professor Longbottom, head of Hufflepuff. This is Professor Granger," he said, pointing at Hermione, "new charms professor and head of Gryffindor.

Hermione smiled, but the couple stared at her.

"We know who you are," the woman said coldly. "Lavender Brown told us all about you. Ron's much better off with her if you ask us. Excuse us," she said, and walked off.

"What a horrible woman," Hermione hissed. "There are going to be lots more of them too, I'm sure."

"Stay calm Mione, and stop crushing my hand," Neville said.

"What? Oh sorry!" she exclaimed. "I didn't even know I was doing that!"

"Don't worry, just try and tear yourself away from me and get us a compartment," he smiled. He pointed at the staff carriage. "Go through that door there and I'll see you in a bit."

Hermione got to the carriage quickly, not wanting to have to meet anyone else who knew the Browns or the Weasleys. She opened the first compartment and looked in. There was a man in there.

"Sorry," she said. "I thought this compartment was empty.

"Don't worry," the man said. "I'm meant to be watching out for you anyway. Are you charms or transfiguration?"

"Charms," she said with a smile. She liked this man. He was tall, with brown eyes and neat brown hair and a short beard.

"Ah so you're Miss Granger," he smiled. "I'm Bernard Stokes. You should be honoured; a load of Ravenclaws are probably lost and incapable of getting on the train because I've been told to meet you," he said with a wink. "Have you seen the other girl? I'd better go and find her in a minute. She seems a bit of a pointless appointment to me. She's only staying until Christmas and then she's getting married so she's leaving. Oh," he said, pointing at a shadow through the glass. "This might be her now. Ah yes," he said as the door opened. "There you are."

Hermione looked up and stared with horror at the woman standing in the doorway. The woman had a haughty look on her face and a small smirk.

"Hello Hermione," she said.

"Hello Lavender," Hermione replied.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the delay in updating! The next chapter will be up quicker than this one was, I promise!**

**Samara Longbottom, you're a star! Thanks for reviewing! Thanks to everyone else who's added this story to their alerts or favourites since last time!**

**Enjoy!**

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The two women stood in silence, staring at each other, but Bernard didn't seem to notice the tension in the air.

"So ladies, let's all sit down and you can get to know each other," he said.

"I know plenty about Lavender already," Hermione replied, glaring at her before storming out.

As she left, she saw Neville down the corridor and ran over to him.

"Are you alright Hermione? You're bright red," he said.

Hermione pulled Neville into a compartment and made sure it was empty before shouting.

"Lavender Brown's the new transfiguration professor," she ranted. "So no, I'm not alright!"

"Really?" Neville asked, turning as red as Hermione.

"She's going out with my ex-boyfriend! Actually, no, she's engaged to him and she's a smug cow and she's going to lord it over me and all you can say is "really?" Hang on," she said, the crease between her eyebrows deepening "you knew all the time didn't you?"

"No," Neville mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

"I thought we were friends Nev," she said, her eyes watering. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to be upset," he replied defensively. "I knew you were more upset about Ron than you were letting on so I didn't say anything."

"So if you knew I was upset, why didn't you use your brain and work out that I would need time to prepare for this? she shouted. "Are you stupid or something?"

She regretted saying that the minute the words left her lips. It was childish and she'd always hated the way the Slytherins had called him stupid back when they were in school. Neville had turned his back on her and was staring out of the window, so she guessed he was still sensitive about it, which made her feel worse.

"Nev," she said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder.

He stiffened and tried to turn away from her even more. Hermione sighed and slouched down in her seat.

They sat in silence for the next few hours of the journey. Neville pretended to look at the view, but actually he was just staring into space. How could Hermione call him stupid? She didn't mean it though, surely. No, of course she didn't. She had just overreacted, which he probably would've done too if he'd been in her situation. She was angry and she was just saying anything; she wasn't deliberately trying to upset him. She wasn't a mean person. He realised that he'd been too sensitive. He should be trying to comfort his upset friend, not taking offence at a childish remark.

He sneaked a look at Hermione to see if she was still angry. If she wasn't, he'd apologise. Just as he was about to look away, she caught his eye and they both started giggling.

"Sorry," she said. "I overreacted, and you were over-sensitive."

"I thought we were meant to point out our own shortcomings when we make up, not each other's," Neville laughed.

"Yeah, well, you were," Hermione said indignantly.

"I know," Neville said. "Sorry."

They sat in silence for a while before Neville spoke again.

"That was our first real fight," he said. "That's a milestone."

"Remember the date and we'll celebrate its anniversary next year," Hermione smiled. "Although wasn't our first fight when I jinxed you in the first year?"

"Oh yeah," Neville laughed. "It meant I won the house cup for you though."

"Do you remember the look on Snape's face? It was priceless," Hermione giggled. "I'm glad to be going back to Hogwarts. It'll be just like old times!"

"Hopefully without the jinxing," Neville said. "Do you fancy a game of Exploding Snap?"

They played for the rest of the journey, until Neville was called away to round up first years.

"I'll see you at the Sorting," he reminded her. "Find Minerva's boat. It should be the one furthest away."

Hermione stepped out of the compartment, but ducked back in when she saw Lavender and Bernard outside.

"Don't be pathetic Hermione," she said to herself, forcing herself to walk out past them. She smiled politely at both of them as she walked past and got a smile in return from Bernard and a scowl from Lavender.

Once outside, she found McGonagall's boat quickly and joined her.

"Professor McGonagall!" she said excitedly.

"Professor Granger," the older witch smiled. "And I think Minerva's more of an appropriate name now we're colleagues. How are you Hermione?"

"I'm fine thank you," Hermione replied politely. "How are you?"

"Very well thank you," McGonagall said. "I take it you haven't met our new transfiguration professor yet then?"

"Oh yes, I have," Hermione said. "I'm not going to let her bother me though."

McGonagall laughed.

"In some ways you haven't changed at all Hermione! I'm glad you've managed to stay mature despite all this mess you've been involved in recently."

"Well I have Neville," Hermione replied. "Without his friendship I'd probably be sitting at home all twisted and bitter, plotting my revenge."

"Yes, I heard you were living together," McGonagall said. "And-"

"We're living together just as flatmates," Hermione interrupted, blushing.

"I know," she smiled. "I was just going to say how it's good that you have a friend here. I think you and Bernard will get on very well too and of course, you have me."

"Thank you Minerva," Hermione said. "That's very kind of you."

"I'm sorry about having to appoint Lavender," McGonagall said. "She was the only person who applied who was actually qualified. It's only until Christmas though. I'm sure you can put up with her for a couple of months."

"Of course I can," Hermione said. "Is that Hogwarts in the distance?"

"Yes, a few more minutes and you'll be able to see it." McGonagall replied.

They sat silently until the castle came into view. Hermione couldn't help but smile as all the memories came back to her."

McGonagall saw Hermione's face and shared her happiness that she'd be in Hogwarts again.

"Welcome back Hermione," she said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow, more reviews! Thanks guys!**

**I know this chapter (like the others) isn't very long, but when I write long chapters, they're not very good and I'd much rather submit a short chapter whch is good than a long chapter which is so bad it'd probably make most of you stop reading!**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Review if you do!**

Hermione sat in her place next to Neville in the Great Hall. She exchanged a few polite words with the other members of staff, and had a rib-crushing hug from Hagrid, but then sat silently while the others around her carried on talking. She hoped she wasn't being rude, but she was more interested in watching the pupils come in and take their seats. It was hard to believe she'd been sitting where they were only a few years before. She glanced over at Lavender, who Minerva had sensibly seated at the other end of the table and noticed that she was watching the pupils with the same interest. Lavender noticed Hermione looking at her and gave her a withering look, making Hermione blush and turn her attention to Minerva, who had just stood up to announce the beginning of the Sorting.

Hermione had always found the Sorting exciting while she was at school and had paid attention, even though Harry and Ron had always tried to distract her with something. As it began, she could see the news "Harrys and Rons"; the ones prodding each other with their wands and whispering. She swore she could even see some people playing chess at the far end of the Ravenclaw table. She could see the "Hermiones" too though, who were paying attention and clapping the first years once they'd been sorted. She liked that nothing seemed to have changed since she she'd been in school.

When the Sorting had finished, McGonagall made a speech. It was much longer than the ones she remembered Dumbledore making, and much less entertaining! The students sat silently through it though and obviously had the same respect for their head teacher as Hermione had had for hers.

"And finally," McGonagall said, "we have a few new teachers joining us this year. Firstly, our new transfiguration professor, Professor Lavender Brown."

Lavender stood up to loud applause and gave the pupils what she obviously thought was a charming smile.

"And Professor Hermione Granger," McGonagall continued, once the applause had stopped. "Professor Granger is our new charms professor."

Hermione stood up as Lavender had done, only to significantly less applause. She looked around and saw that less than half of the students were even looking at her.

"I'm sure you'll make _both _our new professors feel very welcome," McGonagall said sternly. "Now, we'll eat and then you'll go to your common rooms to have a talk from your heads of houses."

She sat down and the Great Hall became filled with chatter from the students.

"Nev," Hermione said nervously. "Call me paranoid, but I swear people are talking about me."

"You're paranoid," Neville joked. He looked around the hall. Some of the students were obviously gossiping about Hermione and Lavender. Some of the younger ones even had the nerve to point at them. "Well, some people are," he admitted, not wanting to make the same mistake he had in not telling her about Lavender, "but don't worry. They'll forget about it once they're snowed under with work. And if they're not, I'll sort them out," he laughed.

"I don't need you to protect me Neville, I can sort them out for myself" Hermione said firmly.

"Of course you can," Neville replied quickly, not wanting to upset her. "I just meant that I'll look after you, if you need it."

"I know what you meant," Hermione smiled. "Sorry, I'm just a bit on edge. I have to give a talk to some of them later and they're just going to be awful. I can feel it!"

"You're going to be fine, honestly," Neville said. "Just be firm without being too strict and it'll be ok."

"Firm, without being strict," Hermione repeated. "I can do that."

"Of course you can. You're Hermione, you can do everything. Well, except hold down a man," a voice hissed in her ear.

Hermione turned round, only to see a smirking Lavender walking back down to her end of the table.

"How long was she there for?" she asked. "Oh no! Now she knows I'm feeling nervous."

"So?" Neville asked. "It's not like she thought you were superhuman or anything to begin with."

"I know. I just want to be better than her," Hermione replied.

"Everyone knows you are," Neville smiled. "Just don't let her bother you, otherwise she's going to get even worse."

"You're right, again," Hermione laughed, as the prefects led the students out of the hall. "We'd better get going."

Neville and Hermione walked down the corridors together until Neville went up some stairs Hermione never even knew existed to go to the Hufflepuff common room. As soon as she was left alone, Hermione felt nervous.

"Professor Granger," someone called after her.

"Yes?" Hermione answered, turning round.

"Will you sign my copy of Witch Weekly?" a Slytherin girl laughed nastily, pushing a magazine with Hermione on the cover and the headline "Ron Weasley's Lucky Escape" into Hermione's face. "It might be worth a few knuts with your autograph on it"

Hermione was stunned into silence for a few minutes before remembering that she was a teacher now, not a student being picked on by another student.

"I can't believe you have the nerve to do that," Hermione scolded her. "10 points from Slytherin."

"It was worth it," the girl laughed, running off.

When she got to the common room, the students were sitting around like they would on any other night, laughing and listening to music.

"Excuse me," she said loudly.

They all turned to look at her. A few people moved their chairs to face Hermione, but most of them ignored her.

"Excuse me," she repeated.

This time no one even turned round. She took her wand out of her robes and with a flick, turned the radio off, making everyone look at her angrily.

"The radio shouldn't even be on when you're meant to be waiting for me," she said in what she hoped was a firm voice. "Now, if you'll turn to face me, we'll get this over with and you can go back to whatever it is you're doing."

With a few grumbles and sighs, the rest of the group turned round.

"Right, now as you all know from various places, I'm Professor Granger. First of all, I want to get one thing clear: my personal life is none of your business. However, if you have any problems: school-related, personal or anything else and you want help, I'll make it _my_ business to do everything I can to solve it. Despite what you may think, I'm not a horrible person," she laughed nervously, prompting a few weak smiles from the students. "I just ask for the same respect that you would give any other member of staff, and it's not optional that you give it to me. I'm teaching some of you first thing tomorrow. I'll see you then. Good night."

As she turned to leave, she heard whispers.

"If you desperately feel the need to gossip about me, please have the manners to wait until I leave the room. I have no problems with taking away house points on the first night, as the Slytherins will tell you," she said coldly.

When she entered Gryffindor Tower a few hours later, after the students had gone to bed, she had a shock. Some students had decided to cover her doorknob in pieces of chewed gum. She sighed as she cast a charm to remove it. This job wasn't going to be easy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi everyone! Thanks for the reviews and everything! There's not a lot I need to say for this chapter, until the end anyway. So, here it is!**

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The next morning, Hermione went down to breakfast. Breakfast in Hogwarts was never as strict as the other meals, and students and teachers were allowed to come and go as they pleased. The used plate with just the crusts of a piece of toast in front of the place next to her told her that Neville had already been and gone. She smiled; over the summer she'd tried to convince Neville to eat his crusts every morning, but he'd refused, joking that she reminded him of his gran.

"Ah, nice to see someone's in a good mood in the mornings," a voice from behind her said.

Hermione turned round to see the cheerful face of Bernard Stokes.

"Good morning Bernard," she said.

"You don't mind if I sit next to you do you? he asked. "I notice Neville's already gone, and it's a shame for such a lovely, pretty woman like you to eat alone."

"No, of course I don't mind," Hermione replied, blushing. She hadn't had much of a chance to talk to Bernard yet, and she was glad to have some company. She knew he was one of Neville's good friends, and perhaps he could be hers too, once they got to know each other. Also, Hermione thought with a smirk, he was very charming and had a cheeky glint in his eye!

"So how was your first night?" he asked, buttering a piece of toast.

"Well the students were pretty vile," Hermione sighed. "But it's nice to be back at Hogwarts. It feels like home, which I know is a very cheesy thing to say, but it's true."

"I know what you mean," Bernard said. "When I came back I felt the same way."

"You were in Hogwarts?" Hermione asked, surprised. "I don't remember you and you don't look a lot older than me."

"Thanks for flattering me," Bernard chuckled. "I left the year before you started, I think. I left the year before Harry Potter started."

"Yes, that's right. I was in Harry's year. Neville told me that you haven't been teaching here very long though. What did you do before that?"

"I worked as a professor in a wizarding university in Germany." he replied. "It was one of the most boring jobs ever though. I'm much happier here."

"I know what you mean. I trained to be a Healer originally but I hated it. I'm glad I'm here." Hermione said.

"I'm glad you're here too Hermione," he smiled. "Do you fancy coming to my office tonight for some drinks and chat? Tell Nev he can come as well if he wants. It'll be fun."

"Ok," Hermione smiled. "I'd better go now; I've got a class in quarter of an hour. I'll see you tonight."

…

Hermione got to her classroom and started preparing for her first lesson. Her first class was seventh year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws. She sighed. It would've been nice to start with an easier lesson, but never mind. At least they'd be mature enough to actually behave themselves. She hoped so anyway.

She saw a group of Ravenclaws standing around outside so invited them in. They came in, smiled at Hermione and took seats at the front of the classroom.

"Hello," she said cheerfully. "How are you all today?"

"We're fine thank you professor" one of them said. "How are you?"

"I'm fine thanks," Hermione replied. "Are you looking forward to another school year?"

"As much as we can be," a girl laughed. "It's sad it's going to be our last one though."

Hermione talked to the Ravenclaws for ten minutes. As they spoke, more Ravenclaws wandered in and joined the conversation.

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed looking at her watch. "The lesson should've started five minutes ago! Where are the Gryffindors?"

"They're probably busy being offended on your ex-boyfriend's behalf," a boy said.

"I don't understand it," another boy chipped in. "It's nothing to do with them, and they don't even know him or Professor Brown."

"You're quite right," Hermione smiled. "Could you go and find the Gryffindors who are meant to be in this class and bring them all here immediately please?"

"Yes professor," the boy smiled and left the room.

Hermione couldn't believe it! The day had started so well; she'd made a friend in Bernard, she'd got on well with some of the students but now this had happened and ruined it.

"Professor Granger," a girl said, putting her hand up.

"Yes?" Hermione said, trying to smile.

"Professor Stokes asked me, as Head Girl, to apologise for the whole of Ravenclaw's disgraceful behaviour last night at dinner. We realise that some of us were pointing and gossiping quite openly in front of you, and we shouldn't have done it."

"That's quite alright," Hermione replied, the smile coming a lot more easily now. "Thank you for apologising. What's your name, by the way?"

"Jennifer, professor," the girl replied. "Jennifer Taylor."

"Well, Jennifer, 10 points to Ravenclaw for your sincere apology."

"Oh no professor! Professor Stokes told us that we shouldn't accept any house points for apologising to you. He said we should do it out of kindness and respect for a wonderful teacher."

"He said that?" Hermione blushed. "Well," she grinned. "Let's call it 5 points to Ravenclaw and leave it that."

The Gryffindors still hadn't joined the lesson so Hermione decided to start without them otherwise nothing would get done.

"Right," she announced. "I just want to check through all the charms you studied last year and then we'll go through any you don't understand, from any year. There's no need to be embarrassed about anything you don't know; you won't learn if you don't ask."

The students looked at each other happily. They liked their new teacher a great deal. Professor Stokes was right; she was a very good teacher. She was patient, knowledgeable and had time for everyone, rather than just her favourites.

The Ravenclaw boy returned with half the Gryiffindors five minutes before the end of the lesson.

"These are the only ones I could find I'm afraid professor," he said.

"Thank you," Hermione said to the boy. "Gryffindors must write an essay explaining every charm they studied last year and any additional ones from previous years which they don't understand. Make sure those who still aren't here do it too. Ravenclaws have no homework because they did it during the lesson," she said to the Gryffindors.

She turned to the boy who'd been finding the Gryffindors. "You don't need to do the essay. Just run through the charms with someone from this class and ask me about anything you don't understand," she said.

Hermione only had two classes in the morning, which ran as smoothly as they could considering they all involved Gryffindors and Slytherins. She was glad when it was time for lunch and she could have a break.

She sat down next to Neville in the Great Hall.

"How was it?" he asked.

"Fine," she smiled. "The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs have been lovely, it's just the Gryffindors and Slytherins who have been a challenge. Bernard actually told the Ravenclaws to apologise to me, which was nice. Oh by the way, Bernard's invited us to his office this evening."

"Sounds good," Neville said. "I'll meet you to go there."

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Because you don't know where it is," Neville laughed. "So what are you doing this afternoon?"

"I don't have any lessons this afternoon, so I thought I'd think of some essay titles to set my classes this week."

"Sounds like fun," Neville joked. "I have double fifth years this afternoon so I'd better go. See you later."

…

Neville was glad Hermione was doing ok. He knew she would though. He, like Bernard, had had a stern talk with his house about their behaviour to her. He was looking forward to their drinks in Bernard's office; he did it every year with a few members of staff and it was always fun.

"Right," he announced to his fifth year class. "We're going to grow these vines for decorations at the Halloween Ball, which I know Professor McGonagall hasn't announced yet, but will definitely be taking place."

The students excitedly got to work, chattering about what they were going to wear and who they were going to ask to go with them. Neville had always gone alone before, but maybe this year he could ask Hermione. Nothing had to happen between them, although he was pretty sure she maybe liked him in _that _way a tiny bit. He didn't have to make a big deal out of it, just ask her casually. It wouldn't matter if she said no then. She wouldn't say no though; she was too nice for that. If she wasn't interested they'd just go as friends.

"Professor! My vine's out of control!" a boy shouted, and Neville didn't have any more time to think about asking Hermione that afternoon.

…

After supper, Hermione followed Neville to Bernard's office. They walked in silence, which was unusual for them. Hermione noticed that Neville seemed nervous for some reason.

"So, how was your day Nev?" Hermione asked.

"Not too bad, I got attacked by a crazy vine but it was ok. I've got a bit of a cut though," he said, showing her his arm.

Hermione managed to tear her eyes away from his lovely arm and tried to change the subject.

"So, you're growing vines?" she asked, even though she wasn't very interested.

"Yes," Neville said. "We have a Halloween Ball every year and my fifth years are growing the vines as part of the decorations."

"A Halloween Ball?" Hermione said. "That sounds like fun!"

"Yeah, it's good," Neville said. He took a deep breath. "Maybe we should go together. It could be a laugh."

"Go together?" Hermione stammered, looking shocked. "Do you mean as friends, or as a…couple?"

Neville tried to keep the smile on his face. She hadn't said yes straight out, she obviously didn't want them to go as a couple.

"As friends of course," he said, forcing a laugh.

"Oh, ok." Hermione said, trying not to let the disappointment show on her face. "Yeah, I'd like that."

Neville smiled and opened the door they'd just reached.

"Bernard, it's Nev and Hermione," he called. "Can we come in?"

"Of course," Bernard called back, and they stepped into the room, where Bernard had his back to them and was rummaging in a tall wooden cabinet.

"Nev, I don't suppose you could get some glasses from the kitchen could you? I seem to have misplaced mine," he said.

"Sure," Neville replied. "I'll be right back."

"Have a seat Hermione," Bernard said. "I'll just bring all the drinks in."

Hermione sank down into an armchair. The office was warm and felt friendly. The walls were covered with bookshelves which were filled with lots of fascinating looking books. The chairs were in a circle around the fireplace, where a fire was crackling invitingly. It looked just like how Hermione hoped her office would look when she got round to furnishing it and doing something about the drab grey walls.

"So, Hermione," Bernard said, setting down the bottles on a table to the side of the chairs. "How was your first day?"

"Not too bad thanks. You could've just summoned all those," Hermione said, pointing at the drinks.

"There's no need. I have perfectly good hands," he smiled. "I don't need to use magic for everything just because I'm a wizard."

"I agree entirely," Hermione said. "I always cook and clean the muggle way. The end result is far better than when you use magic."

"Exactly," Bernard said. "I'm glad I finally know someone who agrees with me!"

Hermione smiled in reply and the two of them sat in silence for a while.

"Hermione," Bernard said. "We have a Halloween Ball in a few weeks, and I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me."

"Oh, I'm sorry Bernard," she replied. "I'm afraid I've already agreed to go with Neville. We're just going as friends though."

"In that case, I hope you'll keep a dance or two for me," he smiled.

"Of course I will," Hermione said happily. Her heart was beating faster and she was trying not to blush. Perhaps she'd found more than a friend in Bernard Stokes.

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**My sister, who proof-reads everything for me, pointed out that it's a bit strange that Hermione's disappointed that Neville doesn't want them to go as a couple, but then sort of starts falling in love with Bernard a few minutes later. I think Hermione's curious about what would happen if she and Neville got together, but she doesn't think it's going to happen, which is why she starts to focus on Bernard. We all know they're not going to last very long though hehe!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks for the reviews and adding me to alerts and everything!**

**A few people have asked me how Lavender's allowed to work, when Ron and Hermione broke up because he wouldn't let her. Lavender's allowed to work until her wedding at Christmas and then she has to leave. I mentioned it briefly in chapter 3 but perhaps I wasn't clear enough sorry!**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I feel horrible for being so mean to Nev in this chapter, but I'll make it up to him soon!**

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It was the night of the ball and Hermione was getting ready. It was taking a while; she hardly ever got properly dressed up and she was having a few problems with her makeup.

"Ugh," she groaned, having poked herself in the eye with her eyeliner for the third time. "Why is this so complicated?"

Normally, Hermione would have just thrown on a dress and perhaps a bit of lipstick, but tonight was different. She was going to dance with Bernard, so she had to make sure she looked her best! She might even resort to using magic to get her makeup to go right; if she made any more mistakes she was going to end up with swollen eyes and she was pretty sure Bernard wouldn't find that attractive!

"Right," she said, flicking through a magazine which she'd confiscated from a third year. "What can I do about my hair?"

An hour later, Hermione looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She'd done a good job, even if she said so herself. Her hair was straight, thanks to a ridiculous amount of product and clipped back with a red clip, which matched her long red dress. She'd used a bit of magic to sort her makeup out, which she had to say was a better way to do it than doing it the muggle way, although she'd never admit it to anyone!

She stepped out of the room, taking care not to fall over in her high heels and saw Neville leaning against the wall, waiting.

"Nev! What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Waiting to take you to the ball," he replied, looking confused.

Hermione mentally kicked herself. She'd been so excited about dancing with Bernard that she'd forgotten she was actually going to the ball with Neville. She felt really guilty; he looked so hurt and embarrassed.

"Sorry. I knew you were coming but I just wasn't expecting you so early," she lied.

"It's alright," Neville said, not looking completely convinced. "Shall we go then?"

Hermione shyly slipped her arm through Neville's and they walked together awkwardly in silence.

"You look really nice tonight Nev," she said.

"So do you," Neville replied. "In fact, you look beautiful."

"Thank you," Hermione said, and they continued in silence until they reached the Great Hall.

"So, shall we dance then?" Hermione asked.

Neville shrugged, but let Hermione lead him onto the dancefloor.

As they danced, Hermione and Neville's moods improved and soon they were laughing again and having fun.

"You're a surprisingly good dancer Nev," Hermione shouted to Neville over the music.

"Don't you remember my amazing dancing at the Yule Ball?" he laughed. "I was better than Ginny!"

"Only because you'd trodden on her feet so much she could hardly move," Hermione joked.

They left the dancefloor when the song had ended and sat down at the side of the room. Neville started talking to Minerva, who was sitting next to him.

"Professor Granger," someone called.

"Hello Jennifer," Hermione said to the Head Girl. "You look lovely."

"Thanks," Jennifer replied, sitting down next to her. "So do you,"

"Are you having a good time?" Hermione asked.

"Oh yes, it's great! Thomas is just getting me a drink," she said, pointing at a Slytherin boy. "I had to come with him; he's the Head Boy," she explained when she noticed the confused expression on Hermione's face. "He's not bad though. Not bad for a Slytherin anyway," she laughed. "Anyway, I'd better go and join him. By the way, Professor Stokes is looking for you."

Once Jennifer had gone over to the drinks, Hermione looked around the room eagerly for Bernard. He gave her a little wave and smiled. She made her way over to him and when she reached him, he took her hand and they went to dance in the corner where they were almost out of sight.

"You look lovely tonight Hermione," he said.

"Thank you. You look very nice too," Hermione replied, looking at his deep blue robes. "You're wearing my favourite colour."

"Well I aim to please," he laughed.

The song ended quickly, as they'd started dancing halfway through it. The next song was a slow song and all the dancers moved closer their partners. Hermione looked at him uncertainly.

"Shall we?" Bernard asked.

Hermione nodded and let him put his arms around her. She liked the way it felt; she felt comfortable and completely safe in his arms, looking into his deep brown eyes. She didn't want to let him go at the end of the dance.

"Do you fancy going for a walk?" he asked, keeping an arm around her.

Hermione nodded. "I just have to tell Neville where I'm going first. I'll meet you at the door."

She quickly walked over to where she last saw Neville. She felt cold without Bernard's arms around her. When they went outside he'd have to put his arms around her again to keep her warm. She giggled to herself at the thought. She saw Neville sitting on his own, looking bored.

"Nev," she said, touching his shoulder lightly. "I'm just going for a walk outside, in case you wonder where I've gone."

"Where have you been up until now?" he asked.

"Just dancing," she replied. She didn't want to mention Bernard to him yet for some reason.

"Well, you could've asked me to dance with you," he said sulkily. "I've been sitting on my own practically all night."

Hermione felt horribly guilty for the second time that night.

"I'm sorry Nev!" she said. "When I come back, we'll dance for the rest of the night, I promise!"

"Ok," Neville said, looking a bit happier. "I'll get some drinks in a bit and I'll come and find you and then we'll dance."

"Great," Hermione said, plastering a smile on her face. "See you a bit then."

She walked back over to Bernard. She'd been hoping to spend the rest of the night dancing with Bernard, but she couldn't leave Neville on his own all night, not when he was her "date" for the night.

"Hi again," she said as she walked over to Bernard. "You'll have to put your arm around me; I don't have a coat and it's cold outside."

"I'd be happy to," Bernard smiled and winked at her. Hermione felt herself melt, as if she was a teenager.

They walked together in silence, but it wasn't awkward silence like she and Neville had shared earlier. It was comfortable silence, with neither of them feeling like they had to say something; they just had to enjoy each other's company, which they were doing.

"Shall we sit?" Bernard asked when they reached a stone bench. Hermione nodded in reply.

"I know I've said so already, but you really do look amazing tonight Hermione," he said, leaning towards her.

Hermione leaned forwards too, and their lips had just touched when they heard the sound of smashing glass.

"What was that?" Hermione asked.

"Someone probably just dropped their drinks," he said, looking around. "I can't see anyone around though. Now, where were we?" he smiled.

"I remember," Hermione said, before kissing him properly.

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**Hmm, I wonder who saw them and dropped his drinks... Like I said, I feel horrible about it but it'll all turn out ok. I promise!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for the reviews and everything! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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When Hermione returned to the ball, she couldn't find Neville anywhere. According to Minerva, he'd left half an hour before they'd rejoined the ball and hadn't come back. Hermione's confusion and disappointment at this was only temporary however, and she spent the rest of the ball dancing with Bernard.

When the ball ended and all the teachers were herding the students in the direction of the dormitories, Bernard came up behind her and put his arm round her waist.

"Do you want to come to my room tonight?" he whispered in her ear.

Hermione blushed. She'd like to do that very much, but she'd only just kissed him and she wasn't going to spend the night with him just yet.

"Not tonight," she said. "Maybe tomorrow."

"I look forward to it," he smiled, and went back to the Ravenclaws.

…

Hermione went to bed happy that night, despite the fact that the Gryffindors were being particularly spiteful and aiming jets of water at Hermione's hair "to see if it would go back to its abnormal size." She was too happy to care though, and just took away some house points instead of putting them in detention like she normally would've done.

As she lay in bed, she thought about Bernard. He was so different to Ron. Ron had always been quite childish and his idea of complimenting her was to joke that she didn't look as bad as she normally did, whereas Bernard was so charming and had complimented her nicely more times than she could count. Well actually she _had_ counted; he'd said she looked nice thirteen times. Also, he hadn't talked about himself all night, unlike Ron who'd always be going on about his family or how he was best friends with Harry Potter, obviously forgetting that she was friends with him too. It was so good to have someone like Bernard; he's practically the perfect man, she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

…

The next morning, Hermione sat down next to Neville at breakfast.

"Morning Nev," she said cheerfully. "Where did you go last night? I couldn't find you anywhere."

"I went to bed," he replied coldly and got up.

"Where are you going?" she asked. "You haven't finished your breakfast."

He ignored her and walked out.

"Is everything alright?" Bernard asked, sitting down on Neville's chair.

"I don't know. What's wrong with Nev today?" she said.

"Don't let it upset you Hermione," he said, taking her hand under the table. "I hate to see your pretty face look so sad. He'll cheer up."

"I know. He can never stay in a bad mood for long. He's just too nice for that," she laughed.

"That's better, be happy," Bernard smiled. "Do you still want to come round tonight?"

"Of course I do. I'll see you later," she replied. "I'd better go and get ready for first year Gryffindors."

"Don't let them ruin your day. Keep thinking of tonight," he said, giving her hand a squeeze.

…

Hermione was determined not to let the students bother her, but ten minutes into the lesson, in which she was teaching wingardium leviosa, her desk was charmed into the air by the whole class.

Neville wasn't having a much better time in his lessons. He couldn't stop thinking about Hermione and Bernard. Seeing them together had made him certain that he liked Hermione as more than a friend. He wished he'd found that out earlier; now it was too late. He'd been hoping it was just a one-off thing, but he'd seen the way Bernard looked at her at breakfast; he definitely wanted to pursue it and when Bernard had his sights set on a woman, he nearly always got her. He always seemed to know what to say to them, unlike him, who would just stutter nonsense, or not speak at all and just get more and more embarrassed. It was no wonder Hermione liked Bernard and not him. He'd just have to keep away from both of them until he got used to the idea.

At the end of the lesson, when he remembered there were students in the room and dismissed them, he called a house elf and asked for his meals to be brought to the greenhouse instead of the Great Hall. It might not be the best solution, but it was better than seeing Hermione.

…

Both Hermione and Neville were glad when lessons were over for the day; Hermione because she got to see Bernard and Neville because it meant he could sit and think without being interrupted by students.

Hermione was having her second wardrobe crisis in as many days. She'd never actually been invited to someone's place for the night. Should she just dress casually or should she make an effort? How long would she actually be wearing her clothes for? She laughed to herself.

Eventually she decided on the same outfit she'd worn when she went out with Neville for the first time and they'd accidentally kissed. Neville had said she looked nice in it so she was sure Bernard would too.

When she was sure that all the Gryffindors were in bed and weren't creeping around the school, Hermione tiptoed out of the tower to go creeping through the corridors herself. She was almost certain she wouldn't get caught; Harry and Ron had forced her to do it a lot when she was a student herself and she'd got pretty good at it.

She looked round the corner, and not seeing anyone, she ran down it and hid behind a suit of armour at the end.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" someone called after her. "You should be in bed."

Hermione thought about running, but realised she was a teacher and could probably talk her way out of it. It was too dark for her to see who had stopped her, but she turned in their direction and tried to act casually.

"Sorry," she said. "I was just checking there were no Gryffindors around."

"Hermione?" the voice said.

"Yes?" she replied uncertainly.

The person walked towards her, and turned the lights on with his wand.

"Neville," Hermione said, shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm in charge of patrolling the corridors tonight," he said. "What about you?"

"Like I said, I'm checking for Gryffindors," she lied.

"Dressed like that?" Neville said. "I don't think so. Unless you're going to be looking for them in Bernard's bed."

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked.

"I saw you two together last night," Neville said angrily.

"So what? Is that why you've been sulking all day today? I don't think it's any of your business," she retorted, walking away.

"It is my business when I think I love you," he called after her, stopping her dead in her tracks.


	9. Chapter 9

**Two chapters in one update!! It's not actually that exciting, because this chapter's really short. I tried padding it out and making it longer, but the short version's better I think, so that's what I've submitted.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

Hermione turned around and looked at Neville, who had covered his mouth with his hands.

"Pardon?" she asked.

Neville turned bright red and looked at the floor.

"I think I might love you," he repeated.

"But Neville, we're just friends," Hermione said. "That's what we agreed."

"I know. Don't you sometimes wonder what would've happened if we hadn't just forgotten about that kiss at the pub though?" he said.

Hermione didn't answer so he carried on.

"I've been thinking about it ever since, but I didn't want to say anything because you're my best friend."

"So you're telling me now, when I'm just starting another relationship. Good timing," Hermione said sarcastically. "I'm going to see Bernard now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Can't we go somewhere and talk about it?" he called after her.

She carried on walking away and didn't answer him. Why had he brought all that up now? He'd never shown any signs of liking her as more than a friend before. It didn't make any sense. It didn't matter though, because she didn't like him in that way. In fact, she didn't like him very much at all at this exact moment in time, but normally she liked him as a friend.

She reached Bernard's quarters and stood outside the door. She didn't know why, but she didn't feel as excited about it anymore. Did she really want to go in?

…

Neville stared down the corridor after Hermione before realising he had a job to do and wiped his eyes and walked in the opposite direction to look for more pupils. It was useless him trying to do it though. He wasn't paying much attention; he was too caught up in his thoughts. What on earth had made him tell Hermione all that? She was right; they'd agreed to just be friends. Friends don't get stupidly jealous of their friends' boyfriends and confess their love for them at the most inappropriate time possible. He'd managed to mess everything up again.

Five minutes later, he saw a figure walking towards him. He lit his wand to see who it was. He wasn't feeling patient tonight. Normally he'd give the students five minutes to get back to bed and he'd pretend he hadn't seen them but tonight he was going to put them straight in dentention. As the figure approached, he was surprised to see that it seemed to be an adult again rather than a student. An adult with very bushy hair…

"Mione? Is that you again?" he asked.

"Yes," she said quietly. "Do you still want to go somewhere and talk?"

Neville nodded and led her to the nearest classroom.

"So," Hermione said. "I was thinking and I think I might love you too."

She said it so matter-of-factly Neville had to try not to laugh. Only Hermione could come out with something so emotional and say it like she was talking about the weather.

"But you didn't want to go to the ball with me as a couple," he said.

"What made you think that?" she asked. "I would've loved to, but I wasn't sure whether you were asking me or not and then you said as friends."

"I got really nervous because you didn't seem to want to go as a couple," Neville said.

"If we had gone as a couple, what do you think would've happened?" she asked.

"I don't know. I probably would've been too scared to actually do anything," he admitted.

"But you would've wanted to?"

Neville nodded.

"When I saw you in the Leaky Cauldron, I thought about maybe asking you out, but you were really upset about Ron and everything and I thought you'd need a friend more than a boyfriend," he said.

"I did," she agreed. "But then after the night in the pub, you know, when we kissed, I thought we'd make quite a good couple."

"You said it was a drunken mistake though," Neville said, confused.

"I know. I shouldn't have done. I just didn't want to have to admit to being wrong about it," she said, not meeting his eyes. "So I kept telling myself that we wouldn't be any good together; our first kiss wasn't the most romantic moment was it?"

She laughed, but Neville didn't join in.

"How about we don't count that as our first kiss?" he said, acting more bravely than he felt.

"What?" Hermione asked, confused. "But it was the first time we kissed, so that means-"

She was interrupted by Neville leaning in and kissing her gently. She returned the kiss, which encouraged Neville to pull her towards him and deepen the kiss.

They pulled apart, both of them smiling.

"Yes, that was much more romantic," Hermione said breathlessly.

"You're all flustered," Neville laughed, fanning her with hands.

"You tend to have that effect on me," she joked. "But believe me, I really don't mind!

So shall we try for an equally romantic second kiss?"

Neville took her hand.

"I'd love to, but I have to ask something first. I hate to spoil the mood, but what about Bernard?"

"Don't worry about Bernard," Hermione said. "Nothing's happening with him anymore."

"Ok then, let's go for that romantic second kiss," Neville smiled.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi everyone! Thanks for the reviews and everything. This is another shortish chapter I'm afraid; everything's a bit hectic at the moment because I'm going to university in less than a week! Exciting! I'd hoped to have this finished by then but it doesn't look that's going to happen now. I'll still keep writing and updating as much as I can though!**

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Neville sat down next to Hermione the next morning at breakfast. She seemed amazingly wide awake, considering they'd only left each other to go to bed about two hours before.

"Hi," he smiled at her. "How are you?"

"I'm not too bad," she replied. "I just had to explain to Bernard about last night. I didn't tell him about you though; I just told him I couldn't do it and we should be friends." She looked down the table at Bernard, who was stabbing his cereal with his spoon; he hadn't taken it very well.

"Why didn't you tell him about me?" Neville asked.

"Don't take this the wrong way," she said nervously "but I don't want anyone knowing about us yet."

"Why not?" he asked, feeling a bit hurt.

"It's just that the students are horrible enough to me already, without having this to use as ammunition against me as well, so I don't want anyone to know yet."

Neville sighed.

"Fine, I understand," he said. "Although I wanted to take you to Hogsmeade today and now I can't if you don't want people to see us together."

"We can still go Nev," she said. "We'll just have to be very sneaky."

"What if we get found out though?" he asked.

"Are you suggesting that I'll let us get caught?" she laughed. "I'll meet you in an hour."

…

Hermione ran down the corridor to Neville with a huge bag over her shoulder.

"What's that?" Neville asked.

"Don't worry about that now," she panted. "Come on. We need to get there before the students leave so we don't get caught."

They walked out of the school grounds, keeping distance between them, but as soon as Hogwarts was out of sight they held hands and stopped every few steps to kiss.

"Right," said Hermione when they reached Hogsmeade. "I thought we could go in a couple of the shops while no one's around."

Neville nodded and let Hermione pull him into the nearest shop. He was glad that he was out with Hermione but it wasn't how he'd imagined it. He kept looking around nervously to see if anyone had seen them together. It was a long way from the romantic day he'd hoped for.

"I'm just going to buy a couple of things," Hermione said. "You just walk around for a bit."

Neville did as he was told and looked around. He saw a box of chocolates which he was sure Hermione would love. He picked them up and took them to the till on the other side of the shop where she wouldn't see him. Even if they couldn't do all the boyfriend and girlfriend things he'd planned: tea together, walking through the streets holding hands, going for a butterbeer, he could at least do one romantic thing and buy her a present.

"Ok, let's go into the next shop quickly," she said, touching Neville on the arm making him jump.

They went from shop to shop quickly, as they could see a couple of students around. When Hermione was satisfied that she'd bought enough things, they went out of the main part of town.

"Where are we going?" Neville asked as he struggled to keep up with her.

"Wait and see," she replied, and although he could only see the back of her head as he followed her, he was sure she was smirking.

They stopped outside a cave.

"Here we are," Hermione said.

"What? Where are we?" Neville asked.

"Wait outside for two minutes," Hermione said, fiddling with her bag. "I'll tell you when you can come in."

Neville stood outside. What was Hermione doing? Did she seriously think spending the afternoon in a cave in November was a good idea? He peeked into the cave.

"I can see you looking," she called. "You can come in now anyway."

Neville walked in, and stopped, surprised. He wasn't sure what he'd expected to see, but it wasn't a fire, a blanket and the biggest picnic he'd ever seen.

"Well?" she asked. "What do you think?"

Neville rubbed his eyes and blinked. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Sirius hid here, and he was never found until he left," she said. "So we won't get found either, so we can still spend the day together."

"You're absolutely amazing Hermione," Neville said happily.

"Well, I didn't want to ruin your day. I felt awful when you said that you were planning on taking me out after I'd said I didn't want anyone to see us. So I felt I had to do something."

"Well this is much better than what I had planned," Neville laughed. "By the way, I bought you this," he said, handing her the box of chocolates "but it pales in comparison to everything you've done."

"Thank you Nev," she said, hugging him. "These are my favourites! Let's add them to the picnic."

They spent the whole afternoon in the cave together. When it began to get dark, they decided to leave.

"How did we eat all that food?" Neville groaned as they struggled to get up.

"I don't know. At least I don't have a lot to carry back though," Hermione laughed.

"I don't think I can even manage dinner tonight," he said. "Do we have to go? I can think of other stuff we can do. Oh no! I didn't mean _that_," he said, turning almost as red as he noticed Hermione had. "Unless you want to of course. I just meant we could hang around together."

"Sounds tempting," Hermione smiled. "We have to go to dinner though. People might get a bit suspicious otherwise."

"You're right," Neville said. "We have plenty of time for everything else anyway."

"We do," Hermione agreed. "I'm glad we did this."

"Well, you did this," Neville said, gesturing around the cave.

"No Nev," Hermione laughed. "I mean this whole thing, us getting together. I'm glad you told me how you felt."

"I'm glad I did too," Neville smiled. "Can we have one last kiss before we go?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Hermione giggled, as her lips met his.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thanks for the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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The next week passed quickly. It was true, Hermione thought: time _does _fly when you're having fun. Having Neville around made it a lot easier to see the positives in situations; she wasn't even upset by the Gryffindors and Slytherins anymore. She enjoyed the excitement too. Sneaking around, trying to keep it a secret was quite fun in a way. Of course, it'd also be good to show Neville off, but she couldn't. She didn't care about the students knowing anymore, but she was still nervous about what Bernard would do, even though she knew she shouldn't be. She wasn't keen on the idea of Lavender knowing either. She'd be telling Ron straight away, and as much as Hermione would love to lord it over him, she knew how Lavender like to exaggerate things to make the gossip more exciting. They'd have to tell everyone eventually obviously; hopefully it was going to be a serious relationship.

One morning, Neville visited Hermione in her classroom. He normally dropped by whenever he didn't have to be at the greenhouses first thing in the morning. He was always careful to make sure he wasn't seen going in and out. Luckily, her classroom was the only one on the corridor, so there were never many people about.

"It's only me Mione," he said as she jumped at the sound of the door opening.

She turned and smiled at him warmly.

"We don't have much time Nev. I've got Ravenclaws in about twenty minutes."

"Then let's stop talking and start kissing," he said.

"Honestly Nev," she laughed. "All you think about it kissing. You have a one-track mind."

"It could be worse," he said, blushing. "My mind could be on a different track…"

"You're right. Although," she said, lowering her voice. "Perhaps we should meet up tonight and see what track your mind's on then."

"I like the sound of that," he laughed. "Now, kissing."

Hermione rolled her eyes and pretended to be annoyed.

"And now we're back on the kissing. Even the idea of tonight couldn't distract you. Oh well. Kiss me if you must," she joked.

Neville laughed and lifted Hermione up onto her desk and kissed her.

"Mmm," said Hermione when they stopped. "Those arms…"

"You'll be seeing more of them later," Neville said with a wink before kissing her again.

They were interrupted by the sound of the door opening and closing. They pulled apart quickly and looked around. There was no one there.

"That can't be good," Neville muttered. "I'd better go. I'll see you tonight. Your place?"

Hermione nodded. She nearly called after him to remind to be careful of people as he left like she usually did, but there was no point. Who had seen them? It must've been a student; a member of staff probably wouldn't have run away. She groaned. She knew how students liked to gossip, especially about her. Everyone would know about it by lunch.

As her class filed in, she decided to try and forget about it for the time being and concentrate on teaching.

"Good morning Jennifer," Hermione said as the girl took her place at the front of the class.

"Good morning professor," she replied, turning red and looking away.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked. "You look a little flushed."

"I'm fine thank you," she replied quietly.

Hermione was confused; Jennifer was normally really cheerful and chatty. Something was wrong with her today. Then she had a thought: was it Jennifer who'd seen her and Neville earlier? That would explain the shyness; she was embarrassed.

As the lesson progressed, Hermione became more and more convinced that she was right. Jennifer was normally the first to put her hand up and answer questions, but today she just sat silently, picking at her quill. Later, when they were practising making their desks glide across the floor, Jennifer's smashed into the wall, breaking it.

"Class dismissed," Hermione said to the startled students. "Miss Taylor, could you stay behind please?"

When the class had left, Hermione motioned to Jennifer to come up to her desk.

"So," Hermione said, as Jennifer sat down awkwardly. "Did you come here early this morning by any chance Jennifer?"

Jennifer nodded, blushing.

"I'm sorry professor. I should've knocked."

"You weren't to know," Hermione said kindly. "It's not like it's the kind of thing which happens all the time. Professor Longbottom and I are in a relationship, but we don't want anyone to know about it yet. I'm telling you this because I feel I can trust you not to say anything."

"Of course professor. I won't tell anyone," Jennifer said. "And I'll try not to be so early for class in future," she laughed.

…

"It's alright," Hermione told Neville at dinner. "It was only Jennifer Taylor and she says she won't say anything."

"Good," Neville smiled. "She's a very nice girl. She reminds me of you when you when you were in school actually."

"I think I see what you mean. She's got better hair than me though," Hermione laughed.

"Well, that's a matter of opinion," he smiled. "I'll come round in about half an hour."

…

Exactly half an hour later, Neville knocked on Hermione's door. She answered it wearing a stunning silver dress. He stood in the doorway, staring.

"You're staring again Nev," she laughed.

"Well you always look so beautiful," he replied.

She smiled and led him to the sofa. She'd managed to decorate a bit and now the room felt warm and inviting, painted in the Gryffindor colours.

Neville, as usual, wasted no time in kissing Hermione. She fell back on the sofa, pulling Neville down on top of her. He wrapped an arm around her back to keep her as close to him as possible. Hermione felt really warm and safe in his arms, which she wanted to see. She tried to find the buttons on his shirt. Neville stopped kissing her and moved away from her a bit.

"Are you alright Nev?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just before we get started, I have to tell you I've only ever done this with Luna before, and I don't really know what to do. She was different to other people, so maybe she liked doing things differently to everyone else."

"It's ok Nev. I'm not exactly an expert either," she smiled. "I love you, so I know I'm going to enjoy tonight."

"I love you too," he said. "I love you so much."

* * *

**Now, this the point where I wish I could write M-rated stuff, but I can't. So I'll have to leave that to your imaginations and the next chapter will take place after the deed is done!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi! This might be my last chapter for a while; I'm moving to university tomorrow, so I don't know when I'm going to be able to update! So please, be patient with me, and enjoy this chapter! I'm a bit mean to Hermione in it, but I was mean to Neville in previous chapters, so it's only fair!  
**

**Oh, and Lime-Wielding Ninja, I hope you feel better soon!**

* * *

The next morning, Neville got up and started to get dressed. He was just pulling his shirt over his head when Hermione woke up.

"What are you doing Nev?" she asked.

"Mmmff," he replied. He wished he'd undone a few more buttons before putting the shirt on; his head was stuck. Hermione carried on, knowing he wouldn't be able to argue with her.

"If you think you're leaving now, you're wrong. It's a Sunday; you don't have anywhere to be. Don't be one of those bad boy types who sneak out the next morning and leave a fake phone number."

"Mmmff?"

"Telephone, Neville. It's a muggle way of communicating," she laughed.

"Mmm, mmmf _mmf _mmm."

"I _know_ you know; you did Muggle Studies, but you did ask. Sit down Neville. You look ridiculous."

Neville had decided that the best way to get his head unstuck was to try and force it through the neck hole despite it being too small and was charging around the room, missing Hermione's furniture by inches. He ran into the bed and fell onto it.

"That's better," she smiled. "Now, I'll help you, as long as you stay. If not, you can just stay like that until you run out of air. What's it going to be?"

Neville made a gesture which she assumed was a nod, even though she couldn't see his face. She reached up and undid a few buttons, making Neville's head pop out.

"Thanks Hermione," he said, fanning his flushed face with his hands.

"Don't think I'm finished talking to you yet," she said in her best "professor voice" as he turned around. "Where were you going?"

"I was just going to get you some breakfast," he said. "I wanted to surprise you."

"Do you even know where my kitchen is?" she laughed.

"No, but it can't be that hard to find. You only have four rooms."

"True," she smiled. "Sorry Nev. I don't know what I thought you were doing."

"You were only joking about the bad boy thing, right?" he said, taking her hand. "You know I'd never do anything like that to you."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just a bit paranoid about it happening again."

"What do you mean again?" Neville asked, shocked. "Did Ron ever do that?"

"Well," Hermione mumbled, "no, he didn't."

"So what do you mean 'again'? You and Ron were together from the end of school year until recently. You haven't been with anyone else. Hang on," he said, "you mean you cheated on Ron?"

"What?" Hermione said, not meeting Neville's gaze. "No! Of course I didn't."

"I can tell you're lying Mione," he said angrily. "Why would you do something like that?"

"It was years ago," Hermione started, "and I was 18, and you have to remember that after the battle things were a bit strange and -"

"Is this meant to make me think that you cheating was ok?" he asked. "You were young and things were strange, so that makes it alright, does it? You're still young, so if things are ever 'a bit strange' again it'll be fine for you to cheat on me?"

"No, of course it doesn't," Hermione said, her eyes filling up, "and I would never do that to you. Let me explain."

Neville didn't say anything, so Hermione carried on.

"Like I said, I was 18, and Ron was being a bit weird after the battle. He was acting like he was this big hero, who wasn't getting any recognition. He'd go out with Harry so that he'd be recognised and people would pay attention to him. So, I'd be left all on my own, and -"

"You could've gone too," Neville said coldly.

"Don't interrupt me Nev, please," she said. "I couldn't go with him because he'd insist it was like a boys' night out. I didn't mind though, because Ginny couldn't go either so we just stayed at home together. We actually became quite good friends. We weren't as close in school as everyone thought we were. Anyway," she continued as Neville looked at her pointedly, "one night I got tired of it and went out anyway, deciding to forget about Ron. There was this guy there and he was charming and said he liked my hair and stuff, and it just happened. The next morning, he was gone and I never saw him again."

"So, if stuff gets a bit hard with us, you're just going to go off with any guy who says you have nice hair?" Neville said. "Silly me, thinking that when things go wrong you should work on them,"

"I know I shouldn't have done it Nev," Hermione cried. "But it was a long time ago, and it was the only time it happened. I stayed with Ron for years without cheating again. You know it's not like me to do something like that!"

"I thought I knew, but I was obviously wrong," he replied shortly.

"I would never do that to you though," she sobbed. "I love you."

Neville sighed and turned to face her.

"I love you too, but I won't be cheated on," he said. "I won't be taken for a fool."

"I would never do it," she repeated. "I promise."

Neville smiled weakly. He wasn't entirely convinced, but if he broke up with her over something like that, he'd be a bit hypocritical after his speech about working on things when they go wrong, and he loved her too much to give up on them anyway.

"How about some breakfast then?" he asked, forcing himself to sound cheerful.

"Yes please," she replied, sniffling.

Neville went to put on his trousers, but Hermione stopped him.

"You know," she said cheekily, trying to make things go back to normal, despite the fact that her face was still wet with tears, "there's a muggle chef called 'The Naked Chef.' Maybe you could sort of channel him in your cooking."

"Ok," he smiled. "I think I can do that. I'll go and find your kitchen. I have a one in three chance of getting it right first time."

"Be careful of the towel rail; it collapses if you're not gentle," she warned him.

He left, leaving Hermione to clean herself up and get dressed. She wiped her face and looked in the mirror. She smiled; they'd be ok.. Neville knew she was sorry, and he wasn't the type of person who held a grudge.

"Oh no," Neville mock-scolded her as she walked into the kitchen, "you have to be naked too."

"I don't think so," Hermione laughed. "I'll go and put any underwear of your choice on though, and just wear that."

"The red set," Neville said immediately.

"Ok, I'll be back in minute," she giggled. "Oh, and if you need milk, I get the house elves to put a bottle by the entrance like muggle milkmen."

"What happened to SPEW?" Neville joked.

"It's not SPEW! It's S.P.E.W: The Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. It's hardly overworking them to ask for some milk," she replied.

"Ok, I'll get it now," he said, walking to the door.

…

Hermione found the underwear Neville had asked for and put it on. She was just trying to flatten her hair when she heard a crash come from the kitchen; the towel rail falling over.

"Nev," she said, running into the kitchen, "I told you to be careful with that!"

She was stopped in her tracks in the doorway by the sight that met her: Neville standing in a pool of spilled milk with a towel covering his modesty, and Lavender Brown standing in the doorway holding some books.

"Well well well," she smirked, "what's going on here?"

* * *

**I hate to end on such a dramatic (well, _I _think it is) note when the next update might not be for a while, but it had to be done. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Wow, it's been a long time! Sorry, I've been mega busy with uni and everything and I've just been writing a bit every now and then. And I keep getting distracted by more fic ideas so I write a load of first chapters all written out before feeling guilty for neglecting Nev and Hermione! It all works out ok though; you have a lovely Christmas present of 3 chapters and the next two chapters take place at Christmas so it fits, which I think is quite cool.**

**Merry Christmas everyone!**

**

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**

"What are you staring at?" Lavender sneered. "Surely I should be the one who's staring."

"What are you doing here?" Hermione managed to stammer.

"Minerva asked me to drop off some books. I was meant to just leave them outside, but then your dear _friend _Neville here opened the door. Tell me Neville, were you looking for your clothes out there, or were you trying to escape from her?"

"Why would I be trying to get away from her?" Neville said. "I'm not going to make the same stupid mistake as your fiancé."

"That's just childish," Lavender retorted.

"And your remark wasn't?" Neville replied with a raised eyebrow. "This has nothing to do with you, only me and Hermione."

"Actually, this is between _me_ and Hermione," she corrected him. "Go and put some clothes on; I want to talk to her on my own."

"You think I'm going to leave her alone with you?" he asked. "No. I'm staying here too."

"You're trying to be tough Longbottom, but you're wearing a teatowel," she laughed scornfully.

Neville blushed and walked off in what he hoped was a dignified manner. Strangely, he hadn't seen much of Lavender since they'd become colleagues, but he'd assumed she'd changed since they'd been at school. He'd been wrong though, obviously; he could still see parts of 14 year old Lavender in the woman who was standing in Hermione's living room. He found his clothes, and not wanting to make a scene, decided to wait in Hermione's room until Lavender had left.

...

"Well, you certainly have him well trained," Lavender laughed meanly. "He went to get his clothes, rather than summoning them."

"I thought this wasn't about Neville," Hermione replied coldly, trying to hide her pride that he'd done something the muggle way. "So, what do you want?"

"Well first," Lavender said, "I want to take a minute to write a letter to Ron. Then, I want to talk to you."

Hermione didn't even try to argue, as Lavender sat down at her kitchen table and started scribbling furiously. She couldn't do anything to stop her, short of ripping the letter out of her hand and giving her a good slap. That'd just be stupid though, and it'd just give everyone another thing to gossip about. She watched as Lavender finished the note with a flourish and remained motionless as she waved it in front of her face.

"Not even going to try and take it off me? You never make the effort when Ron's involved do you?"

"Can we leave the childish insults for a minute and actually talk, like you wanted to?" Hermione snapped.

"Aww, do you not like it when it's someone else being witty and clever?" Lavender said in a patronising voice.

Hermione opened her mouth to tell Lavender that she wasn't being witty or clever, but stopped, not wanting to start another argument.

"Why are you being like this Lavender?" she sighed. "You've got what you wanted out of this. You always wanted Ron, and now thanks to me, you have him."

"What do you want, a medal? Yes, I've always wanted Ron. I care about him, and he was so upset when you broke up with him. He wasn't his normal self for months, and it was all your fault. I hated seeing him like that, so I hate you."

"Ron's a big boy, he –Oh grow up!" Hermione barked when she saw Lavender smirk. "He can take care of himself. He doesn't need you butting in. You're just like this because you've always hated me."

"I haven't always hated you, just disliked you a lot. You always had everything you wanted, and now I have something I want, something that you once wanted as well. I think I'm allowed to be a bit smug about it, don't you?"

Hermione shook her head, trying to make sense of what she'd just heard.

"I can't wait until Christmas, when hopefully I'll never have to see you again," she said. "You are the most spiteful, selfish and unpleasant person I've ever met."

Lavender's face crumpled and she burst into tears. Hermione ignored her. So Lavender could be horrible to her all she wanted, but the slightest retaliation and she turned on the waterworks? Pathetic. She carried on.

"Oh by the way, I saved your life, if you remember correctly. I don't expect to be thanked or anything, but politeness would be nice."

Lavender cried harder upon hearing this. Hermione threw a box of tissues at her and sighed.

"What?" she asked impatiently.

"It's just," Lavender sobbed, "I don't want to leave at Christmas anymore. I like teaching here; I want to stay."

"Well stay then," Hermione replied shortly.

"But if I stay, Ron won't want to marry me," Lavender howled. "He said I could work until the wedding and then I have to stay at home and have children and get fat."

"Well don't stay then," she sighed. " Merlin, Lavender! Make up your own mind. Don't let him tell you what to do."

Lavender sniffled, and Hermione felt a little sympathy towards her. When they'd been in school, Lavender had always had to follow someone else around, whether it had been Parvati or Ron. She'd never been independant. It was sad really, how she hadn't changed at all. She still needed someone else to tell her what to do, even now she was an adult.

"So, what are you going to do?" she asked.

"I'm going to leave at Christmas. I want Ron," Lavender replied, although she didn't look entirely sure.

"Well if that's what you want..." she said.

Lavender nodded and gave Hermione a wobbly smile. She turned to the mirror and started wiping her eyes.

"Thank you for saving my life by the way Hermione," she said quietly, keeping her back to her. "I wouldn't have expected you to."

"Oh please," Hermione said, waving her hand, "I wasn't exactly going to let you die was I?"

"Well, I don't know. Anyway," she said, turning round and smirking, "I'd better be off; I have a letter to send."

She walked out of the room, leaving a speechless Hermione staring after her. Neville, hearing the door close, came out of Hermione's bedroom.

"Are you alright?" he asked her gently.

"I thought she was actually human for a minute, but I was wrong. She's gone to tell Ron."

"Why does that matter?" he asked, giving her a hug. "Like I said earlier, this is about us. It's got nothing to with Ron, Lavender or anyone else."

"You're absolutely right," she said. "I really do love you Nev."

"I love you too," he smiled. "You know, over Christmas I think you should come and stay with me at my gran's."

"Like meeting the parents?" she asked.

"Well, yeah," he replied, blushing.

Hermione squealed and pulled Neville close to her and kissed him.

"We're really seriously in this together now aren't we?" she said happily.

"Yes we are," he replied simply, taking her hand.


	14. Chapter 14

Christmas soon came, and Hermione and Neville had their work cut out trying to get all the students and their belongings on the train. They'd get them on and then they'd find a bag left on the platform, or a student would come running off because they couldn't find something and they thought they'd left it.

"I swear we weren't this disorganised when we were young," Hermione laughed when Neville ran past her, chasing a first year, carrying her pink suitcase.

"No, even_ I _wasn't this bad," Neville joked, walking back to her and giving her hand a quick squeeze.

Hermione smiled at him.

"I can't believe my first term's done already. It's gone so quickly," she said. "Remember how nervous I was before I started?"

"Yeah," Neville replied. "And remember how I said you'd be fine? I was right wasn't I?"

"You were," she smiled. "Thanks for making it so easy for me Nev. I probably would've had a horrible time without you."

"Well thank _you," _ he replied. "You've made this my best term yet."

Hermione looked around the platform, and realising they were hidden behind a pillar, gave him a small kiss on the lips.

"Come on," she said, pulling his arm. "Let's go home."

The journey home was pretty uneventful, as they had a compartment near some of the other students. They couldn't sit very near each other or touch each other, as they were afraid that they'd be seen. They could hear the students talking, which meant that the students could hear them, so conversation mainly stuck to work. Besides, one of the students was talking about last Christmas when she'd gone skiing and injured herself, which wasn't particularly romantic.

As the train pulled into the station, Neville opened the curtains.

"Home sweet, oh," he said.

"What?" asked Hermione, who was struggling with one of the bags, which was stuck under the seat. She pulled it out with one huge tug and stood up to look out of the window. A man was staring into the compartment angrily.

"Ron," she gasped, pulling the curtains closed again.

"Yes, closing the curtains helped," Neville said.

"Shush Neville!" Hermione hissed. "This isn't the time for you to try and be witty. What am I going to do?"

"Come on," Neville said soothingly, as Hermione was shaking. "You handled Lavender, so you can easily handle Ron."

"But I always hated Lavender. I used to love Ron."

"You've both moved on though," he said. "He's got Lavender and you've got me. It'll be fine. Just walk past, and smile if you can."

"You think he's going to just let me walk past?" Hermione asked hysterically. "He'll want to talk to me about what Lavender said in that letter. What can I say?"

"Just tell him the truth. What's the worst he can do?"

"I don't even want to think about it," she said, wiping her eyes. "Let's get this over with."

They got off the train together. To Hermione's relief, most of the students were gone. The last thing she needed was them to be reminded of why they were so vile to her at the start of the year. Ron had moved away from the train and was standing by the barrier. Taking a deep breath, Hermione walked up to him.

" Hello Ron," she said.

Ron just nodded in reply.

"Are you here to collect Lavender?" she asked politely.

He nodded again.

"Is what she said true?" he asked. "Are you and Neville seeing each other?"

"Well, yes," she said. "But it's not a big deal, surely. You have Lavender now and I have Nev."

"Yeah," he said flatly. "I'm happy for you."

Hermione was going to say that she'd never seen an angrier-looking happy person, but she stopped herself. She wasn't going to get into an argument in front of everyone.

"Neville," Ron grunted, as he appeared behind Hermione with all the bags.

"Ron," Neville replied.

"ROOOOOOOON!" someone called.

Everyone turned round to see Lavender running towards them. She jumped into Ron's arms and gave him a passionate kiss, which seemed to be more for Hermione's benefit than Ron's.

"Well, we should get going," Hermione said when they finally pulled apart. "It was good to see you Ron."

"Well done," Neville whispered in her ear as they walked away. "You handled that really well."

Hermione didn't reply, and just looked at the floor.

"I almost ruined it by laughing though," he continued. "I thought he was going to drop her when she jumped into his arms. He's not big and strong like me."

Hermione laughed and slipped her hand into Neville's.

"Well, he hasn't got arms like yours," she smiled.

"You know Hermione," he mock-pouted. "Sometimes I think you only want me for my arms."

"Not just your arms. You're a good cook too," she joked.

"That makes me feel so much better," he laughed. "Come on, let's get to my Gran's. If you think I'm a good cook, wait til you taste her strawberry cheesecake."

"How are we going to get there?" Hermione asked.

"Side-along apparition, seeing as you don't know where it is," Neville replied.

"Ugh I hate side-along apparition," she moaned.

"Look at this way: I'm going to have to put my arm around you," he smiled.

"That's definitely a plus," she giggled.

"Hermione Granger, did you just giggle?"

"Maybe," she laughed. "You have that effect on me."

"What? I make you feel 13 again?"

"Nev, you knew me when I was 13. I didn't giggle then either. You just make me feel happy," she said, blushing slightly.

"My Gran is going to love you," Neville said, also blushing. "She always says that girls these days look like they've been slapped in the face with a fish. No, I don't get what she means either," he laughed.

"My Mum says that too," Hermione said, looking a bit sad. "This is going to be my first Christmas away from my parents. I mean, I'm glad I get to meet your Gran, but it's going to be weird."

"Well, I'm going to have to make this an extra special Christmas," Neville smiled. "Let's go from here; no one can see. Hold on tight."

Hermione held on to Neville tightly as the air closed around them, squashing her.

Fortunately, it was only a short time before they landed in the front garden of a big white house.

"Your Gran lives here? On her own?" she asked, amazed.

"Yeah. She nearly always has guests staying with her though," he replied.

Neville produced a gold key from his robes and unlocked the front door.

"Who's there?" a woman shouted. "I have a wand, and don't think I'm too old to use it."

"It's only me and Hermione Gran," Neville shouted back.

"Oh good," the woman called. "Come in Neville. Let's have a look at you both."

Neville took Hermione's hand and led her through a maze of corridors. The house was very clean, making Hermione suspect that there were several House Elves working there. It was decorated in a very old-fashioned way, but the carpets weren't worn, and the wallpaper wasn't peeling. The paintings and tapestries which lined the wall had no dust on them at all.

"No House Elves, don't worry," he whispered to her. "Just my Gran. There is one House Elf, but she's too old to work."

He opened a door and looked in.

"Ah, she's in here. Hello Gran!"

"Hello Neville," Neville's gran smiled. "And hello Hermione."

"Hello," Hermione said shyly. "Thank you for having me."

Neville's Gran was still the same as Hermione remembered her, except she was smiling. She'd always seemed quite grumpy when she'd taken Neville to school, but she seemed to be happier now.

"That's alright," she said. "I'm glad to finally meet the witch Neville spends most of his time talking about. Neville, our other guests are in the room next door. Perhaps you should bring them in."

Neville left the room, leaving Hermione alone with his Gran.

"You have a lovely house," Hermione said politely.

"Thank you," Neville's Gran replied. "It's nice to have people here for a change."

"Neville said you have guests most of the time," Hermione said.

"I used to, but not really anymore. Don't tell Neville though. I don't want him thinking he needs to look after me."

"Of course not," Hermione replied.

Neville came back into the room, looking very pleased with himself.

"Hermione, our guests," he said, stepping aside.

Hermione let out a shriek.

"Mum! Dad! What are you doing here?"

"Neville invited us," Hermione's Mum said.

"I thought you'd want a nice big family Christmas," Neville said.

"You are actually amazing," Hermione said, giving him a hug.

"Well so are you," he replied. "Merry Christmas."


	15. Chapter 15

"Why do we need to sleep in separate beds?" Hermione complained after a very passionate goodnight kiss.

"Because it'll keep my Gran happy," Neville replied, still panting. "She thinks only married couples should share a bed."

"I can understand that," Hermione nodded, as the passion wore off and she went back to her usual level-headed self. "And I doubt she wants stuff like that going on in her house. I wouldn't if I was her."

She disentangled herself from Neville and went down the landing into her room.

"Hey, Hermione," Neville called after her.

"Yeah?" she said, turning round.

"It's midnight. Merry Christmas," he smiled.

"Merry Christmas," she replied. "See you in the morning."

...

Hermione couldn't sleep. It felt strange without having Neville next to her. She'd never thought she'd miss his snoring, but she did. She yawned. It had been a tiring day. She'd been travelling, which always wore her out, and on top of that she'd had the whole Ron incident, she'd met Neville's Gran and she'd caught up with her parents. It'd been so thoughtful of Neville to invite them.

She heard a noise outside her room and went to see what it was. She poked her head round the door, squinting in the light.

"Sorry Hermione. Did I wake you up? I was just going to use the bathroom."

Hermione smiled.

"No, not at all Mum. I can't sleep."

"Missing Neville?" her mother laughed.

"Yeah," Hermione replied. "Even the snoring."

"I know how you feel," her mother said. "I felt the same the first time your Dad and I were apart. You know Hermione, I was a bit unsure about you getting into a relationship so soon after breaking up with Ron, but Neville's a very nice man."

"I know," Hermione blushed. "I'm lucky to have him."

"And he's lucky to have my Hermione," her mother smiled. "I'm going to go to bed now. Good night."

Hermione went back to bed, smiling. She was glad her mother approved of Neville. Still smiling, she finally drifted off to sleep.

...

A few doors down from Hermione, Neville was having trouble sleeping too. He missed Hermione's hair tickling his face, even though he never thought he would. He was so proud of her; she'd made a really good impression on his Gran, who was hard to please, and she'd dealt with Ron well. He was pleased to see that she obviously had no feelings for Ron anymore. It was a silly thing to be scared about, but he'd been a bit nervous when he saw Ron at the station, just in case she suddenly remembered she loved him and dumped Neville on the spot. He knew she didn't love Ron anymore though, even though they'd been together for years. She loved him now. He smiled to himself. He loved her too. It was amazing how fast things had moved; in his three year relationship with Luna, he'd never taken her to visit his Gran, but here he was with Hermione after only a few months. He'd never felt like this before.

...

The next morning, Neville's Gran and her guests all sat round the Christmas tree to exchange presents. Neville went first, as Hermione discovered he was like a 10 year old on Christmas day. He ripped open his presents excitedly to find out he had a herbology book from his Gran, a jumper from Hermione's parents and a watch from Hermione, which could magically store reminders for him.

"Oh wow Hermione!" he said. "This is amazing! Thank you!"

Hermione smiled. She was always bad at buying presents which people would actually like, and the watch had been the result of a month of shopping. She was pleased he liked it.

"Can I help you open yours now Hermione?" he asked eagerly.

Hermione laughed.

"Oh Nev. How old are you?" she laughed. "Go on then. Open this one from my parents."

Neville ripped open the present and looked at it, confused.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's a mobile phone," she said. "You dial the numbers and then you can talk to the person whose phone has those numbers."

"We got it so you can phone us from Hogwarts," her Dad said. "We miss properly talking to you, even though you send us owls."

"That's a great idea," Hermione said. "I miss talking to you too."

"Can I open this one from my Gran?" Neville asked, bouncing up and down in his chair.

"Go for it," Hermione laughed. "Oh, Mrs Longbottom!" she exclaimed, holding up the scarf which Neville had unwrapped in a matter of seconds. "It's beautiful! Thank you!"

"Now mine," Neville said, pressing a box into her hand. "I'll let you open this one."

Hermione opened the box to find a silver bracelet with unusual-looking red stones on it. She gasped and went to put it on immediately.

"Wait," Neville said. "Read what it says on the inside."

She turned the bracelet to look, and saw letters forming as if they were being written by hand as she watched.

"I love you," she read with a smile. "I love you too Nev."

Hermione's parents and Neville's Gran opened their presents, but Neville didn't find chocolates and wine particularly exciting so calmed down and snuggled up to Hermione.

Straight after presents, they sat down for lunch. Hermione tried not to notice the House Elves bringing out the food. It was Christmas after all, but she made a vow to go down to the kitchen later with food and presents for them. Neville saw her struggling to refrain from saying anything and squeezed her hand.

After they ate, everyone did the same as they did every Christmas: they slept. Hermione didn't though. She could never sleep in the middle of the day for some reason, no matter how tired she was. She sat admiring her bracelet. She'd never really bothered with jewellery before, but this bracelet was really special. She kept turning it over, stones glinting in the light, to read the inscription, which was written out again every time she looked. It really was beautiful.

Eventually everyone woke up and they sat around eating, drinking and talking. The muggles played with Neville's watch, while Neville and his Gran tried to work out how to use Hermione's mobile phone. After a while, everyone drifted off to bed, except for Neville and Hermione's Dad, who still had a glass of butterbeer each to finish.

"So this is a wizarding drink Neville?" Hermione's Dad asked, taking another sip.

"Yes sir," he said. "One of my favourites. Gran always makes sure she's got some when I come to stay."

"Yes, it's very nice," Mr Granger said. "It has a very interesting taste. I can't think of a muggle drink that's anything like it. And Neville, you don't need to call me sir. Neil will do just fine."

"Ok, Neil," Neville said, smiling at him, who returned the smile.

"Thanks again for inviting us," Neil said. "It's good to finally meet you, after everything Hermione said to us about you in your letters."

"Well I wanted to meet you," Neville replied. "Hermione's very important to me, so I thought it was about time we met."

"I'm glad she's met you Neville," Neil smiled. "After Ron, I was very worried about her. I've got a feeling you two are going to be together for a long time. Don't get me wrong, I liked Ron, but I could sort of tell they wouldn't last. If they were going to, she wouldn't have..." he trailed off.

"I know about that," Neville said. "It makes no difference to how I feel about her."

"Good," Neil said. "Ron was never really the same afterwards. I don't blame him though. She was very silly to do that, but you know she's not the kind of person who'd do it again. She's learned from her mistake."

"I know," Neville said. "I really love her Neil, which is why I want to ask you something. You might think this is a bit quick, but I'd like to ask Hermione to marry me."

Neil didn't say anything, so Neville babbled on.

"I know we've only been together a few months, but I really want to marry her. We wouldn't have to get married straight away; we could wait a while. It's just that I was with my ex-girlfriend for three years, and I never felt that I wanted to be with her forever. I know I want to be with Hermione forever now, and I don't think there's any point waiting around. She might not even want to-" he stopped as Neil cut him off.

"You have my permission Neville," he said warmly. "And I think she'll say yes."

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**Hopefully I'll update soon! I promise I'll try! After all, I can't leave them on the verge of being engaged!**

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	16. Chapter 16

**Hi everyone! Sorry about the long wait! I had exams (which I passed! yay!) and loads of other stuff happening. The next chapter's already half-written though, so hopefully I'll be able to update quicker next time!

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**

Bernard's suitcase was stuck. It was one of those annoying muggle ones with wheels, which had got caught in the straps of someone's bag and got stuck. He bent down to try and untangle them, but he couldn't manage it in the small space they were in. He and the owner of the bag were going to have to shuffle inside together and then sort their things out where they had more space.

He straightened up and got a face full of bushy hair. Well, actually, not that bushy; it was more curly now. Hermione had obviously had something done to it over the holidays to calm it down. She seemed thinner as well. Amazing, seeing as it was after Christmas. Bernard sighed. He thought he'd managed to put everything that had happened with her behind him, but perhaps he'd been wrong. It was silly really. He hardly knew her; they'd only met a few times, and after that night where he'd been stood up, he'd been so angry, he'd tried to ignore her. No one stood him up. He was still a annoyed, but he wouldn't let it show. He was too well-mannered for that. Besides, it was a new year and a new term and he'd be able to start again with her. And this time he wouldn't get stood up.

He tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. She stopped talking to Minerva and turned round.

"Her- oh, sorry," Bernard stammered. The woman wasn't Hermione, although she looked a lot like her from the front as well as from behind. They had the same full lips and warm brown eyes. Warm brown eyes which were looking at him expectantly.

"Bernard," Minerva said, seeing as Bernard had seemingly lost all powers of speech, "this is Juliet. She's the new transfiguration professor, and Jennifer Taylor's sister"

"It's nice to meet you," Juliet smiled shyly. "Jennifer's told me all about you."

Her personality was very different to Hermione's, he noticed. Hermione wasn't shy at all. Even when he'd first met her and everyone hated her she'd been talkative. This difference helped him collect himself and put on his trademark charming smile.

"It's nice to meet you too, Juliet," he said warmly. "I'd just realised that our bags are tangled up, so we're going to need to sort them out when we get inside. And then when we've done that, I'll show you to your rooms. I'm guessing you'll be sleeping near the Ravenclaw dormitories like me. Is that right Minerva? Excellent," he said as the old witch nodded. "I'll be able to show you the ropes. Now, let me help you with that," he smiled, lifting her bag as well as his suitcase.

...

"Ah, back at Hogwarts," Hermione said with a broad smile as she and Neville walked through the main doors. "Is it a bit strange that I've missed it?"

"It'd be strange for anyone except you," Neville laughed, taking her hand. Hermione snatched it away.

"Nev, what are you doing?" she hissed. "People might see."

"Oh come on," Neville complained. "We've just done the whole meeting the parents thing. Don't you think it's perhaps time we told people here about us? We're getting serious now." _And engaged soon, hopefully, _he added in his head. He still hadn't been able to pluck up the courage to ask her though. He wanted to make it perfect, and make sure she'd actually say yes.

"Sorry Neville," Hermione said. "I still don't think we're ready for that yet."

"Oh," Neville mumbled, trying not to show how upset he was, "well, when _you_ feel we're ready, just let me know."

He stalked down the hall to his bedroom, feeling annoyed with himself. Why had he thought they were ready to be engaged when she was still intent on keeping their relationship a secret? If he proposed, there was no way she'd say yes. He had to do it though; Neil and Rachel were expecting an owl from Hermione any day now with the news that she was engaged. That was a stupid reason to propose though: to keep his girlfriend's parents happy. He frowned. That sounded so strange, calling Hermione his _girlfriend_. She didn't feel like a girlfriend; she wasn't Luna. This wasn't a string of dates and just having fun. This was more serious. A word like fiancée would be a much better way of describing Hermione. _That _ was why he should propose.

...

Hermione was left standing on her own, staring after Neville. Surely she hadn't been too harsh with him? Things were just going so well at the moment; she didn't want to ruin things.

"Ah,_ Hermione_," a familiar deep voice said. Hermione sighed. She hadn't heard that voice since the start of her first term. She took a deep breath. She could handle this.

"Hello Bernard," she said with a forced smile. What did he want?

"Good Christmas?" he asked, before carrying on without waiting for a reply. "I haven't spoken to you for a while, but I was just wondering something. I was thinking of asking the new transfiguration professor for a drink tonight. Would you be cool with that?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, trying not to laugh at the way Bernard had said 'cool with that' with his very posh accent. He was obviously nervous for some reason. She was confused. Why would he ask her that? "That's fine."

"You really don't mind?" he asked.

"No, not at all," she insisted. "I haven't met her yet. What's she like?"

"Oh she's a wonderful woman," Bernard smiled. "I think you'll like her."

"Well, she can't be worse than Lavender," Hermione said.

Bernard laughed, which made Hermione soften a bit. When he laughed, he reminded her of what he'd been like when she'd first met him and how much fun they'd had. She missed it. That's not to say she wasn't glad she had Neville now, but Neville had cost her her friendship with Bernard. It wasn't his fault, obviously. It wasn't like he'd done it on purpose. He didn't even know he'd done it. It was funny; last term she'd thought that she and Bernard would be inseparable, but now it felt like they were meeting for the first time.

"That's true," he chuckled. "No, she's very nice. You'll get on with her."

He turned to go, but Hermione stopped him. They could still be friends, surely.

"Bernard, I'm sorry about what happened. Can we make a fresh start this term?"

He nodded. "Yes, of course Hermione. I'd like that," he smiled. "I'd just like to know, and I know it's none of my business, but did you not meet me because there was someone else?"

"No," Hermione lied, "I just didn't feel right about it. I barely knew you."

"Ok," Bernard said, looking pleased. "I'll see you at dinner."

Hermione nodded and smiled, but the smile wore off as soon as he'd turned the corner. She shouldn't have lied about Neville, but she'd had the feeling he wouldn't have wanted to be friends with her if she'd said yes. She wanted Bernard's friendship desperately. He was a very intelligent and kind man, and she'd enjoyed his conversation in the short time they'd actually been friends last year. She couldn't shake the guilty feeling though.

"Professor Granger," someone called. Hermione sighed again. Was she ever going to get to her room? She turned round to see Jennifer, and a woman who looked just like her, except she had light brown hair instead of Jennifer's black.

"Did you have a good Christmas professor?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes thank you Jennifer," she replied. "Did you?"

"Yes thanks. It was great! I just wanted to introduce my sister, Juliet. She's the new transfiguration professor," she said, gesturing towards the blushing woman.

"Oh, I've been looking forward to meeting you," Hermione said to Juliet. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Thanks," Juliet said in a soft voice. "I vaguely remember you I think. I was in my sixth year when you started here. You were the really clever one that all the Ravenclaws wanted in our house."

"Really?" Hermione asked, feeling pleased. "Well, I need to get unpacked. We should go into Hogsmeade or something sometime though so we can get to know each other properly."

"Definitely," Juliet smiled. "I look forward to it."

"There's just one thing you should know though, professor," Jennifer cut in nervously. "I didn't know that Julie was going to be teaching here, so I told her about you and Professor Longbottom. I'm sorry, but you can trust her not to say anything."

"My lips are sealed," Juliet agreed.

"I don't mind," Hermione said. "I finally have someone I can talk about it with!"

Jennifer looked relieved. "I'll take Julie to her quarters then," she smiled. "I'll see you soon professor."

"Yes," Hermione smiled. "And Juliet, Hogsmeade this weekend!"

...

"I don't know what's wrong with Neville," Hermione complained to Juliet in the empty staff room. "I wish he'd give up on the whole telling the school about us thing. And he's going on about bringing our families down here for a weekend for some reason. I love him, but he's driving me mad at the moment!"

Juliet smiled and passed Hermione a cup of tea. In the few weeks they'd known each other they'd become firm friends. She was a very shy woman, but she and Hermione balanced each other out perfectly, and she felt very comfortable around Hermione. She and Bernard often went out with Hermione and Neville, although she always had to follow strict instructions from Hermione about what she was and wasn't allowed to say about Neville. She doubted she'd be able to say anything even if she wanted to. She still got quite tongue-tied around Bernard, but he was very patient and understanding. Neville had the hardest job: trying to pretend he was just Hermione's friend.

"Hermione," Juliet said, offering her a biscuit, "do you think Neville seemed a bit uneasy last time we were out?"

"Yeah, actually, I did," Hermione said, thinking. "I think he's still a bit uncomfortable in front of Bernard because of everything that happened last term."

"Well maybe," her friend replied, "but if you put it together with the commitment thing and wanting to tell the school about you, don't you think it could be something else?"

Hermione stared at her blankly.

"I'm not saying this is definitely what it is," Juliet said gently, "but I have a brother and he acted similarly to how Neville is now just before he proposed to his girlfriend. I think Neville might be thinking about proposing."

Hermione dropped her mug on the floor, spilling her tea everywhere.

"Reparo," Juliet said calmly, pointing her wand at the cup. "Sorry. That was probably a bit of a shock. I could've probably prepared you a bit better for that!"

"No way," Hermione said, her voice shaking. "He can't be thinking about that. We've only been together a few months. We're only young. No, he can't be."

"What would you say if he did?" Juliet asked.

"Probably no," she replied. "It'd be silly to rush into something like that after such a short time. Ron and I were together for years before we thought about getting married. But then again," she mused, "that didn't really work out very well did it? And if things do work out with Nev, which I think they will, there's not much point in waiting around. So actually, I might say yes, as crazy as that sounds!"

"Oh good!" Juliet said excitedly. "Let me be bridesmaid!"

"Calm down! We don't even know he's going to propose yet," Hermione laughed. "We'll have to wait and see."

As if on cue, Neville walked into the staff room with Minerva and Slughorn.

"Hello Hermione, Juliet" he smiled, before turning to Slughorn to talk to him.

"Neville, can I talk to you a minute please?" Hermione asked in what she hoped was a natural way. She always felt very awkward pretending to be just friends with Neville. It just didn't feel right.

"Yes Hermione?" he said, sitting down beside her.

"I'm ready if you are," she whispered.

Neville's face broke into the biggest grin she'd seen on him in ages, which made her smile too.

"Minerva, Horace, Juliet," she said, standing up and pulling Neville up with her, "Ah, Septima," she said, nodding to the Arithmancy professor, who'd just entered the room.

She paused for a moment. She was so nervous. Perhaps she wasn't ready to tell people yet, or get married. Her hands were shaking and she wanted to just sit down and pretend she'd never said anything, but she couldn't back down now. Everyone was looking at her expectantly, especially Neville. She couldn't disappoint him again. She took a deep breath.

"I have something to tell you all," she said, taking Neville's hand. "Neville's been a very good friend to me since everything that happened over the summer. The thing is, we're actually more than friends. We've been in a relationship for quite some time now."

She looked around the room at everyone's faces. She saw a wide smile from Juliet, nodding from Minerva and Septima, confusion from Horace, and anger from Bernard, who was standing in the doorway, having just come in.


	17. Chapter 17

**Argh! Sorry about the long wait again! So many essays and stuff going on! This was much more fun to write than stuff about Beethoven and symphonies and stuff! It's getting harder to write now though; stuff's getting pretty serious with them!**

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"Well, that's wonderful," Minerva smiled, breaking the tension. "Would you like the students to know, or not?"

Hermione and Neville looked at each other, then nodded. They were glad that Minerva was being so encouraging. Although Hermione had never experienced it first-hand, Harry and Ron had always complained that she was prickly and could be quite grumpy. Neville knew this too. When he'd been at school there had been some harsh words aimed at him because of his inability to transfigure a teapot. Since becoming headmistress though, she'd become a lot more grandmotherly, and a bit like Dumbledore actually.

"I shall make an announcement at supper then. I think that's the best way to do it. You know though, some of them will probably take this as an opportunity to start acting up again,"

"Yes," Hermione said, "but I think I'm more than capable of handling it now."

"You didn't handle it badly the first time," Neville said, squeezing her hand. It felt so good to be able to do it without fear of being told off. "And I can deal with my students too, if they give me any grief. It'll be fine."

"Well we'll all make sure the students are respectful too," Juliet said. "It's not like it's anything to do with them anyway, but I'm sure a few Slytherins will want to make their feelings known. I may even start giving out detentions."

Hermione laughed. Juliet was known for not giving any of her students detentions. She preferred to get them to do extra reading or an essay as punishment instead. That way she could get them to learn more, rather than have them sitting writing lines, which wouldn't help them at all. Typical Ravenclaw! It didn't mean that her students walked all over her though; the idea of having to do more work was enough to put them off misbehaving most of the time.

The other teachers nodded in agreement, although Hermione and Neville noticed Bernard's nod was stiffer than the others and his smile was forced. Hermione's heart sank as he took a seat next to Juliet and the other teachers left.

"So," he said after Horace had shut the door, "what happened to 'there was no one else' Hermione?"

"I'm sorry," she said, her face turning red, "I just wanted us to be friends, and I didn't think you'd like me if I said I'd dumped you for Nev."

"No," he replied aggressively, "what I don't like is a liar, Hermione."

"Bernard, calm down," Juliet said. She hadn't seen her boyfriend like this before and it made her feel very uneasy. He'd always seemed like a gentleman before, polite and incapable of losing it, but the redness in his face and the way his hands were balled into fists were making her change her opinion of him. "I'm sure Hermione thought what she was doing was for the best."

"She made me think I still had a chance with her," Bernard thundered. "I thought I could get her back this term."

Juliet looked at him, unable to believe what she'd just heard. Bernard realised what he'd said and put his head in his hands.

"Julie, I didn't mean it like that," he mumbled.

Juliet looked at him in disgust and stormed out of the room.

"She'll come round," Bernard said, although Hermione and Neville didn't look convinced. Juliet was shy; she wasn't spineless.

"Perhaps you should go after her," Neville said. Bernard's anger never lasted more than a few hours. He'd realise how bad it must look to other people, and calm down. If Neville could get him to leave, Bernard wouldn't come back and start the argument again later.

"No, I'm not done with you two yet," he replied. "You're meant to be my best friend Nev, and you never said anything."

"We both decided to keep it a secret," Neville said tightly. "I would have told you otherwise."

"So basically, Little Miss Bossy here- it's a muggle thing," he said, seeing Neville's eyes were question marks, "she told you not to say anything so you didn't."

"No, we _both _wanted to keep it to ourselves," Hermione said. She didn't want to mention that Juliet knew. She knew Bernard did actually like her friend, and she hoped they wouldn't split up over it.

"Really?" Bernard said sarcastically. "Come on Nev, admit it: she's a bossy know-it-all. You must be hurt that she lied to me about you."

"No, not at all," Neville said, with a slight tremble in his voice, as he _was_ slightly hurt. "I understand why she said that. What _does _hurt me, is that _you're _supposed to be _my _friend and you never said anything to me about you still liking Hermione. That strikes me as a bit hypocritical."

"You know Nev, she's turning you into her," Bernard growled, annoyed that Neville had made a good point. "You're going to end up as a bossy old couple who think they know better than anyone else."

"I've had enough of this," Neville snapped. "Go and calm down and find your girlfriend. This is none of your business. We're not going to try and win you over. You're either friends with us, or you're nothing."

"Fine," Bernard snapped back, before stalking out.

"So," Neville said to Hermione, "is he our friend, or is he nothing? I don't think he said."

Hermione laughed, although she was still shaken. "I don't know and I don't care to be honest. I don't like seeing him like that. He'd never really seemed like an angry person to me before now."

"It won't last," Neville said. "It never does."

The door creaked open and Neville and Hermione turned to see who it was, hoping it wasn't Bernard. They saw the tearstained face of Juliet and Neville ran over to hug her.

"Julie," he mumbled into her hair, "have you seen him yet?"

She stepped back from him and shook her head.

"He's looking for you," he said. "He really likes you Julie. He was just angry when he said all that."

"I don't want to feel second best to Hermione though," Juliet choked.

"Juliet Taylor, don't be silly! Have you _seen _me?" Hermione said, forcing a laugh. "He doesn't want me. He wants you."

"Yeah," Neville said, stroking Juliet's arm reassuringly, "He's just angry that something hasn't gone his way. He's not used to it. I've been friends with him for years now, and I know when he likes a girl a lot."

"But does he want me, or does he want to keep up appearances? Does he just want a girlfriend, rather than specifically me?" she asked. "I've noticed how he's always aware of how he looks to other people."

"No, Julie! Well, yes, but he really does want specifically you," Neville replied.

Juliet smiled, despite the tears still in her eyes. She still liked Bernard, even though she'd just seen his bad side. Everyone had one, and while he was spoilt and too concerned with what other people thought of him, he was also kind, intelligent and loving.

"Shall we go up to Ravenclaw Tower so you can calm down and wait for Bernard to do the same?" Hermione asked. "He's looking for you."

Juliet nodded and let Hermione take her arm and lead her up to her room.

...

Hermione closed the door on Juliet. She hadn't really known what to say to her. She was bad at these situations; they just made her want to go "Merlin! It's not like Voldemort's back or anything." She wished she was better at dealing with things like this. She'd just left Juliet with a lot of chocolate and a cup of tea.

"Professor Granger," someone called.

"What?" she snapped, turning round to see the confused face of Jennifer.

"Why was my sister crying just now? Is it because of Professor Stokes?"

"You know about that?" Hermione asked, surprised. It wasn't something she'd personally choose to share with her sister, if she had one.

"Of course I know about that," she replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "What's he done?"

"He knows about me and Professor Longbottom and it made him angry, which shook your sister up a bit I think," Hermione explained.

"It's more than that, I'm sure," Jennifer snorted. "Julie's quiet, not a wimp. It's take a lot more to make her cry. But I suppose you can't tell me. Perhaps he will though," she said, turning towards the door of Bernard's study with her wand out.

"Jennifer! What are you doing?" Hermione said nervously. "Don't do anything stupid. You can't point a wand at a professor. "

"He made my sister cry. Come on, everyone knows you broke the rules for Harry and Ron when you were at school," Jennifer replied, not looking at Hermione.

"Well, yes, but this is different," Hermione stammered.

"How? You looked after them, and I've always looked after Juliet."

"Jennifer Taylor, turn and face me now!" Hermione shouted. She never thought she'd be shouting at the Head Girl. She'd always seemed so measured and controlled before. It was certainly the day for seeing different sides of people!

"Jenny," a voice behind them called. "Don't be so silly!"

"Julie!" Jennifer said, running up to her and hugging her. "What's he done to make you so upset?"

"Nothing that warrants you trying to kill me, Miss Taylor," Bernard said, stepping through the door.

Hermione groaned. He kept walking into rooms at the wrong time today.

"Professor," Jennifer blushed. "I wasn't going to kill you."

"Oh, so you were just going to attack me," he said sarcastically. Obviously his black mood hadn't lifted yet. "That makes me feel much better. One hundred points from Ravenclaw and detention with me tonight. You're Head Girl, Miss Taylor. This is not the example you should be setting. You should be in control of your emotions at all times."

Jennifer sloped off, looking at the floor.

"Bernard, you should have reported her for that," Juliet said.

"Well, I didn't think you'd want me to, and I have to get back on your good side," Bernard replied.

Juliet laughed and gave Bernard a small peck on the lips.

"Surely that's a bit hypocritical," Hermione pointed out, unable to help herself. "You told Jennifer off for breaking the rules because of emotion, but by not reporting her to Minerva you're doing the same thing."

"I don't care," Bernard replied shortly. "I'm still not speaking to you or Neville. At the moment, I hate you both."


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey everyone! I'm giving Hermione and Nev a break in this chapter so we can focus on Bernard and Juliet. I've grown to love them almost as much as Hermione and Neville now. Yes, even Bernard, who is a nice guy underneath all the anger! Neville and Hermione will be back next chapter though, don't worry!

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"Where have you been?" Bernard asked grumpily when he heard the door open behind him.

"Where do you think I've been?" Juliet replied. "I was on patrol with Hermione."

Bernard took his glasses off and turned to face her. The essays would have to wait for another day.

"I thought we agreed, Julie. Neither of us are going to do patrols with Hermione or Neville."

"No, _you_ said that, and I decided that I was going to carry on as normal, seeing as they're both still my friends," she said firmly. "Come on Bernard! Even the kids are getting used to it now."

"Not all of them. I overheard Toby Jacobs and Malcolm Peters plotting to put their faces onto one of the ruder portraits on the top floor," Bernard smirked.

"That's awful," Juliet gasped. "Did you punish them?"

"Why would I? That would be an impressive display of magic, and it'd be funny."

"Bernard, this has got to stop," Juliet said angrily, pulling at her hair. "You're worse than a group of 11 year old children. Can't you be mature about this?"

"Ah yes, because they were being so mature when they were sneaking around and lying to us," he shot back.

Juliet flinched for a moment, like she always did before she told a lie. She wasn't a dishonest person, but she'd decided not to let Bernard know that she'd already known about Hermione and Neville's relationship. She could just about handle Bernard when he was grumpy, but she didn't feel she could face angry-Bernard again anytime soon. Things were already strained because of what had happened a few days before. Besides, it was probably better for Hermione's sake if he didn't know.

"Do you want a drink?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, my usual please," he replied.

Juliet walked over to his drinks cabinet and poured him a gin and tonic, and a glass of wine for herself. She sat herself down on one of the armchairs by the fire and gestured for him to join her. He got up stiffly and sat down next to her. As Juliet took a sip of her wine, the image of Hermione doing the same thing came into his head. She'd drank from the exact same glass. Juliet sighed. She knew what he was thinking. She'd never been one for initiating serious discussions; she didn't like to cause conflict, but perhaps now was the time to change.

"Bernard," she said, setting her glass down. "Do you want me, or do you want Hermione?"

Bernard looked confused. "I want you. You know that, Julie."

"Then why are you angry that Hermione and Neville are together? Surely you should be happy for two of your best friends."

"They're not my friends. They lied to me."

"Are you sure that's the only reason?" she pressed, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"Fine," Bernard growled, "I still have some feelings for Hermione. Not many, but a few."

Juliet nodded. That had been what she'd expected to hear.

"So why me? Because I'm the nearest thing you could get to a replacement?" she asked.

"No," he replied softly, "I have feelings for you too. I like you because you're Juliet. You might look similar to her, but you've got a feminine beauty and daintiness about you that I much prefer. And even though you're both evenly matched in intelligence, I like the way you don't show off all the time, and that you're not as annoyingly competitive as she is. I like you better."

" I'm the older, more boring Hermione," she said sadly. "I can tell. You always talk about her, you can't stop looking at her or thinking about her and you can't bear to see her with anyone else. What if I ran off with Horace tomorrow? Would that be the same?"

"If you ran off with Horace, I'd be feeling ill from the mental images that would give me," Bernard joked, but Juliet didn't laugh. "You're not an older, more boring Hermione. You're wiser, more thoughtful and deeper. "

"But I know I _am _a second-best Hermione to you," she said, the tears starting to fall. "And what happens when I'm too old to remind you of her? Will you run off with Jennifer instead?"

"Juliet, did you just ask me if I'd run off with your 17 year old sister?" Bernard asked, rubbing his temples tiredly. "That makes no sense. You know I'd never do that."

"Well, I never thought you'd hurt me like this, but you did" she said coldly. "I don't know what you would and wouldn't do."

Bernard didn't know what to say. It looked like she was about to leave him, but short of begging, he didn't know how he could stop her. Bernard Stokes did not beg for anything.

"I want to know if I'll be wasting my time by staying with you. I don't want to be compared to her all the time, and I don't want you to rattle off insincere lists of what I'm like and what she's like," Juliet said firmly.

"Julie, that wasn't insincere," he insisted. "I meant all of that. I have no interest in Hermione in that way. I was just angry the other day and I was trying to hurt anyone and everyone. Don't leave me."

Juliet sipped her drink, trying to calm herself down. She shouldn't be angry with him. He wasn't a bad person. He just wanted what he couldn't have, and he wasn't used to not getting what he wanted.

"Bernard," she said softly, the anger leaving her face. "This isn't what you want. We both know that, and it's not fair on either of us to carry on like this when it's obviously going to end in disaster. I know you're a wonderful man. I remember how charming and funny you were when we first met, before all this with Hermione and Nev happened."

"We can go back to how things were then," he replied.

"No we can't," she smiled, shaking her head. "After we've had some time apart, I hope we can be friends again. I hope all four of us can be."

"I hope so too," Bernard said after a while. "I think we all just need time."

"Exactly," she agreed.

She got up to leave, and Bernard took her by the waist and gave her one last hug. He breathed in the scent of her hair, and for the first time he didn't think about how it was different to Hermione's. He thought about how it was Juliet's and how he was going to miss that fruity smell. She pulled away from him after a minute and walked out of his room, leaving Bernard to think.

He hadn't been being insincere when he'd told her how much he liked her. Comparing her to Hermione was a mistake. He'd never make that mistake again though, whether he was lucky enough to get Juliet back, or whether it was with someone else, not that he could imagine that. He looked over at the empty glasses on the table. The image of Hermione drinking from one of them came into his head again. He felt nothing.


	19. Chapter 19

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**This chapter has been the hardest to write so far! I kept showing it to my sister, and she was always like, "no. You'll have to do it again!" She's still not very happy with the way I've done Hermione here, but I am. I think even though she's grown up, she can still be quite bossy and controlling!

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"You did _what?" _Hermione screeched at breakfast the next morning as Juliet shushed her frantically. "Sorry," she whispered, "I just can't believe it!"

She glanced down the table to sneak a look at Bernard. He'd been looking at them, and when his eyes met Hermione's, he looked away quickly and became very interested in his toast. She was surprised by this; she'd been expecting a glare, seeing as he wasn't speaking to her. Instead he'd just turned away, and had she seen a hint of sadness on his face? She didn't feel any sympathy for him though. He'd hurt them all too badly, especially her best friend. They'd all be better off now he wasn't in their lives.

"It looks like he's paying the price now, the miserable old man," she laughed.

"Should I check he's ok?" Juliet asked, looking concerned.

"Why would you want to do that?" Hermione replied. "After the way he's treated you, you shouldn't want to go near him."

"I told him I still want to be his friend," she said, getting up. "I should talk to him."

"Julie, that's just something people say when they break up. You don't actually have to do it!"

"Well, I want to," Juliet said, "although I suppose he won't really want to talk to me right now. I'll give him some time."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed, although she was secretly hoping Juliet would give up on the stupid idea of being friends with him. "Don't expect too much though, Julie. It'll probably just be the three of us now. I've explained to Nev why it'd be better off like that too. Neither of you need to speak to him again."

Juliet opened her mouth to argue, but closed it again. She couldn't speak for Bernard, even though she hoped he would join their group again at some point. They'd had so much fun together as a foursome. Perhaps he wouldn't want to though; it wouldn't be much fun for him to see Hermione and Neville together, and she had a feeling Hermione would make it very obvious that she didn't want him there. It wasn't really any of Hermione's business though, was it? She made a mental note to seek Bernard out later, when Hermione wasn't around, and have a talk with him.

"So," she said, changing the subject, "how's everything with Nev?"

"Good thanks," Hermione smiled. "There's nothing on the proposal front though, so I don't think that's going to happen."

"Oh," Juliet said disappointedly. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine," she replied warmly. "Neville's just not like that; he wouldn't be thinking of marriage after only a few months."

"Well, as long as he thinks of it at some point. I'll be having words with him otherwise," Juliet laughed. "Anyway," she said, noticing Bernard was gone. She knew he'd be in the staff room, getting his coffee before his first year Hufflepuffs. "I'd better go now. I've got lots to do."

"Aren't you free now?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Um, no, I've got to help out with a flying lesson."

"You can't fly."

"Yeah, I know, but I'm still needed. I'll see you later."

She ran off before Hermione could question her anymore, while her friend looked at her back in confusion. A quick look down the table told her that Bernard had just finished his breakfast. Juliet wouldn't have gone after him, would she? Not after their talk about how she didn't have to be his friend, surely.

"Morning," Neville smiled, sitting next to her.

"Morning," Hermione replied, forgetting all about Juliet.

...

"Bernard?" Juliet said, looking around the staff room door.

"Good morning Julie," he said politely, coming out from behind the door, making Juliet jump. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I was just washing up my mug. It's a bit silly to put the sink behind the door isn't it?"

She nodded. He seemed odd, like he was trying too hard to be normal.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm doing as well as can be expected," he replied with a tight smile. "You?"

"Same."

They stood in silence for a minute, Juliet looking at the floor and Bernard nervously sipping his coffee.

"I'll be off now then," she said finally. "See you later."

"Yes, see you at lunch," he said. "Thank you for coming to check on me. It was very thoughtful of you."

"No problem," she smiled. "Whenever you need me, I'm here. I meant what I said about being friends, if you ever feel you want to be."

Bernard smiled at her and nodded. After she left the room, he sighed and healed the burns on his tongue from drinking boiling hot coffee. He _did _want to be friends with her. He missed her.

...

Bernard wasn't the only one who missed having someone around. Neville sat watching his third years prune their hedges. He wanted to apologise to Bernard about the whole Hermione thing so they could be friends again. Bernard had returned his smile when they'd passed in the corridor at breakfast time, so perhaps they could make friends again soon.

"Professor, I've accidentally cut my hand," a voice called.

Neville got up, cast a healing spell, sent the boy to Madam Pomfrey and sat down again. Why did the kids always have to interrupt his thoughts at the worst times? He was trying to work out what to do about Bernard. He liked Hermione and Juliet, but it wasn't the same without Bernard. He'd been his best friend for years. Bernard had been the one who'd sat with him at meals, talked to him and took him out for drinks when he'd first come back to Hogwarts. He'd felt like shy eleven year old Neville again, and without Bernard, he probably wouldn't have stuck it out at Hogwarts. He needed to talk to him again.

The only problem was that Juliet and Hermione wouldn't want to be friends with Bernard after everything that had happened, and they were two of his other best friends. He'd worry about that after he and Bernard had made up though. He'd try and talk to him tonight. That started him on another problem: Hermione. He still had to propose to her. It'd been months now since he'd first decided he was going to do it. First he'd been too scared, and then there had been the whole Bernard situation. There was nothing stopping him now though. He would do that tonight too.

...

Hermione got two glasses out of her cupboard and put them on her coffee table. Neville had said he was coming round with some wine, which was going to be the only good part of her day. All her pupils had been especially vile, and then she'd gone to one of the top floors to talk to Madam Pomfrey, and she saw hers and Neville's faces superimposed on one of the portraits which she'd always thought was inappropriate to be on display in a school. Oh well, a night in with Neville would make things better.

He came round exactly on time, which was unusual. Normally, whenever Neville gave a time, you could expect him about half an hour later. He always got held up by something, but tonight he knocked on her door before Hermione had even had the chance to try and do something to her hair. He insisted it was fine the way it was though, and they snuggled up on the sofa with a glass of wine each.

"How's your day been?" Hermione asked him.

"Pretty boring," he replied. "I spoke to Bernard earlier though, after dinner."

"I hope it was to tell him to leave us alone," she smirked.

"Actually, it was to apologise for not telling him about us. He accepted the apology and said sorry for getting so angry and now we're friends again!"

"What?" she snapped. "Why did _you _apologise? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Well, I kind of did. We weren't exactly fair on him," Neville said. "And it's ok, it prompted him to apologise too, so it's all fine now."

"No, it's not," she said, sitting up and moving away from him. "We don't want to be his friends anymore after the way he treated us."

"Hermione, _I _ still want to be his friend. Surely you can understand why acted the way he did. You probably would've done the same thing."

"I most definitely wouldn't have! I can't believe you, Nev! We'd be so much better off without him and now you've basically invited him back into our group. What about Julie?"

"Hermione, we're not kids; we're not in some kind of exclusive clique. And Julie'll be fine with it. She's spoken to him today, and he said he wants to be her friend. If she can forgive him for how he acted, surely you can too. She's the one he hurt the most."

"Yes, but he hurt me too. And you."

"He was angry. Everyone gets angry. All he did to us was shout and not talk to us for a bit. That's nothing compared to what he did to Julie. Why can't you just forgive him?"

"He's ruined everything, Nev. We used to all be such good friends, and it's never going to be like that again."

"I'm going to miss the way things were too, but we can still get close to that, I'm sure."

"We can't! Why are you defending him?"

"He's my best friend, Hermione," Neville snapped back. He was getting angry. She was actually quite similar to Bernard when she was in this kind of mood, but he wasn't about to point that out to her.

"But you have me now. And Julie. We're better friends to you than he's been. You don't need him."

"I've missed him."

"Oh, and I suppose you miss him now too. Well why don't you go and hang out at his with this wine tonight? I'm going to bed."

"Maybe I will. I should be looking after him anyway," Neville said, standing up angrily. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"You're actually going?" Hermione asked, in shock. "I didn't think you actually would. Well go running to poor little Bernard, and comfort him and tell him there are lots of other women out there he can treat badly."

"Fine," Neville snapped, striding towards the door. "I'm going."

"Don't forget your wine," she said angrily, pushing the bottle at him.

He snatched it off her and walked away.

"And don't forget your jacket either," she shouted after him, throwing it at his back, making a little black box come flying out of the pocket and hit the floor. Hermione picked it up and looked inside.

"Nev," she said to her shaking boyfriend, "is this an engagement ring?"

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**Perhaps not the romantic proposal you (or Hermione and Nev!) expected, but at least it's done now! I'll try and update soon! I'm on a break for Easter at the moment, so I should have more time.**

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	20. Chapter 20

**Ooh look at me with my quick update! Thanks for the reviews everyone!

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"Nev," she repeated, stepping towards a stunned Neville, "_is _this an engagement ring?"

Neville opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He nodded.

"Oh," Hermione said.

There was a pause, as they looked at each other nervously.

"Is it for me?" she asked.

Neville looked at her as if she'd gone mad, before laughing.

"Of course it is," he chuckled. "Who else would it be for?"

"Were you going to propose to me?"

"Well, yes. That's normally what happens when someone buys an engagement ring for someone," he laughed.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I think my brain has decided to go on holiday. I can't get my head round this."

"I'm sorry if you think this is too fast or anything, but I talked to your Dad and he thought it'd be a good idea," Neville babbled. "It's just I really want to be with you forever, and what's the point of waiting around to propose if I know I want to marry you now? It doesn't make any sense. I never felt this way about Luna. I'm sorry! I shouldn't mention Luna at a time like this. I don't know why I did! I just-"

"Nev, it's ok," Hermione interrupted. "I don't think it's too fast. I want to be with you forever too. I'd love to marry you!"

"Really?" Neville said, relieved. "I'm just sorry the proposal wasn't as romantic as I planned. And that it wasn't even a proposal really."

"That's ok," she laughed. "Things don't really happen like they should with us, do they? Remember our first kiss?"

"I thought we agreed that that didn't count!" Neville said. "Remember our other first kiss. That was much better. In fact, don't count that as your proposal. Go to your room for ten minutes. I'm going to do this properly."

"You really don't have to, Nev," she protested.

"I want to," he insisted. "I'll call you when I'm done."

"Ok," she smiled, kissing him. " Before you do though, I just want to say sorry. You can be friends with Bernard if you want to be, and I'll make an effort with him, although I can't promise I'll ever be that close to him."

"That still means a lot," he replied, kissing her back. "Now, off you go, and no peeking! This is going to be so good, it'll make your cave picnic look rubbish!"

"I don't think so," she laughed.

"We'll see!" he teased. "Just you wait!"

...

In her room, Hermione couldn't sit still or stop giggling. Casting a muffilato charm on the room to make sure Neville didn't hear her and think she was insane, she jumped up and down on her bed, laughing and squealing. Eventually, she grew tired and flopped down on her back, still laughing to herself. If someone had told her a year ago that she was going to marry Neville Longbottom, she would've laughed. That shy, awkward boy she'd helped in potions? No way! He'd been nice enough, but nothing special. He'd changed a lot though. So had she, thinking about it. He'd probably never even thought of marrying her either. She'd been bushy-haired, bossy and looking back on it, she'd probably been quite patronising towards him. Actually, although she hoped she wasn't patronising, she was still bushy-haired and bossy. Some things hadn't changed.

"Nearly done," Neville called from the living room. "Just give me another five minutes!"

Life with him was going to be great! She was actually looking forward to it, unlike how she'd felt when she was engaged to Ron. With Ron, she'd known that when she accepted his proposal, she was going to have to spend her life cooking, cleaning and popping out babies. With Neville, she had no idea what was going to happen. It was strange that she should find that so exciting. Normally, the idea of having no plan scared her, but she knew things would work out somehow with him. They'd probably carry on working at Hogwarts, have a couple of kids, maybe get a house nearby. She wouldn't want the children living at the school. Maybe they'd even leave Hogwarts altogether. Neville could do something with plants, and she could maybe tutor or something. Perhaps she'd write a book. It had always been one of her goals to write a book and get it into Hogwarts' library, as nerdy as it sounded. Whatever they ended up doing, she knew they'd be happy.

...

Back in the living room, Neville was pacing back and forth. When he'd told Hermione he'd be ready in five minutes, he'd finished preparing the room ages ago. He just needed to work out what he was actually going to say to her. He'd already messed this up once, so he needed to make it perfect this time. The trouble was, he'd never been very good with words, as he'd proved by mentioning Luna in his first attempt at a proposal. He'd got better at it as he'd grown up; after all, he couldn't be a teacher if he couldn't find the right words to encourage or scold his pupils. Hermione was a different kettle of fish though. He knew she didn't like the really romantic stuff, like really flowery language or poems. She thought it was soppy and silly. Surely a proposal had to be a bit like that though? It was all too confusing!

He had to think of something to say quickly. Hermione would be getting restless in her room. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, a head of bushy hair peeked round the door. It looked bigger than usual actually. Had she been bouncing on her bed or something?

"Are you nearly ready?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the floor as to not ruin her surprise.

The moment he saw her, he knew what he was going to say. Even if it was a bit too soppy for her, she'd have to deal with it. He was just going to tell her exactly how he felt.

"Yeah," he replied. "You can look."

Hermione raised her head and gasped. She hadn't expected him to change the living room a lot, but it was actually nearly unrecognisable. She'd expected candles, dimmed lights, and maybe some flowers. They were all there. What she hadn't expected was the shimmering words "Hermione, I love you" hanging in mid-air, her little pensieve projecting Nev's memories of them onto the walls and the ceiling bewitched like the one in the Great Hall, so it looked like the sky. It felt like they were in a Hermione-and-Neville bubble, their own special world.

Now came the hard part. Neville cleared his throat.

"Hermione, I know you hate this sort of thing, but I thought it'd be a good way to show you how much I care about you. You understand how difficult some of these charms are! The fact that I didn't give up when your ceiling looked like parquet flooring shows how desperately I wanted this to be perfect. You deserve nothing less than perfection, because you're perfect yourself. You're patient, you're kind, you're gorgeous, you're intelligent, you're every positive quality you could ever think of. I'm so unbelievably lucky to have you, and I promise I'll try and find the words to really say how much I love you in time for our wedding, if you say yes! Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"

Hermione was crying by this point. She hadn't thought she would; it was a very Lavender thing to do, but when it came to it, she couldn't help it. She loved him so much, he loved her too, and they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. She couldn't think of anything better.

"Yes," she finally managed to choke out. "Of course I will."

Neville slipped the ring onto her finger, and held her close to him. He sighed contentedly. This was how things were going to be forever.


	21. Chapter 21

**Sorry it's been such a long wait! Luckily (for you lot, not for me!) I've been ill for the past two weeks, so the next few updates should be quicker because all I've been able to do is write. This chapter's quite bitty because there's a lot of stuff to cover before I get onto the next part. I hope you still enjoy it though!

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Hermione woke in Neville's arms the next morning with a big smile on her face. She couldn't work out why so she was so happy for a moment, but as she brushed Neville's hair off his face, the new ring on her finger glittered in the sunlight and the events of the night before came back to her. She was engaged! She shifted slightly to admire the ring, which prompted some muffled groans from her fiancé.

"Sorry," she whispered. "Go back to sleep. You've got another hour."

"It's alright. I'm awake now," he replied. "Are you admiring my good taste in engagement rings? Or rather, my great-great-grandfather's taste in engagement rings."

"Yes," she smiled. "It's beautiful."

She held it up to the light. The word "beautiful" didn't really do it justice. It was made of two pieces of silver twisted round each other, with the two ends joined by the diamond. It wasn't a very big diamond compared to other rings Hermione had seen, but it was beautifully 'd always thought that big diamonds looked tacky. Lavender's ring had had a huge pink stone on it, which Hermione had always thought made it look like it had been made for a giant Barbie doll.

"It matches my bracelet," she said, looking over to her bedside table where she kept her Christmas present every night.

"Yeah, I kind of planned that," Neville laughed. "When I bought it, I wasn't planning on proposing to you anytime in the near future, but I thought I'd probably want to at some point, so I thought it'd be nice if they matched."

"When you bought that, we'd only been together for about a month," Hermione said. "Do you mean you knew by then that you wanted to marry me?"

"I know!" Neville laughed. "It sounds crazy! We'd shared so much in that month though, and I felt really strongly about you. I wasn't planning on proposing until at least the summer, but then at Christmas I found the ring at my Gran's. Mum couldn't have it at the hospital. They were worried she'd hurt herself with it, like she'd swallow it or something, so Gran had taken it home. Anyway, I happened to find it and it got me thinking, why not sooner? And your Dad was there, so I thought it was the perfect time to ask his permission."

"I think it was too," Hermione smiled. "We'd better get up," she said, stretching. "We're going to have to tell the kids at breakfast, before any of them see the ring and get the first word in."

"We'll have to talk to Bernard before then though," Neville said. "Let's not make the same mistake as before."

Hermione nodded in agreement and tried not to make a face at the mention of Bernard's name. She'd rather deal with a hall-full of badly behaved children than him!

...

Hermione and Neville happened to see Bernard walking in front of them on the way to the Great Hall for breakfast, which was unusual. Normally he was there much earlier than them. At least it meant that if he got angry with them there wouldn't be an audience to see it, unlike there would be in the Great Hall. Walking faster, Hermione kept her hands behind her back as she and Nevile caught up with him.

"Hello, Nev, Hermione," Bernard smiled. "How are you today?"

"We're fine thanks," Neville said. "Listen, we've got something to tell you, which isn't easy for us to say and will be difficult for you to take in but we thought we'd better let you know." He took a deep breath. "Hermione and I are engaged."

Bernard suddenly stopped walking and stared at them. Hermione was preparing herself for another angry outburst, but Bernard spoke.

"Congratulations," he smiled. "I'm very happy to hear that."

"Are you really alright?" Hermione asked. She hadn't been expecting that.

"Yes, I really am," he said with as much warmth as he could manage. "In fact, we should all go out and celebrate tonight."

"That'd be fun. Wouldn't it, Hermione?" Neville said, nudging her.

"Oh, yes," Hermione said. "I'll ask Julie too, if that's okay with Bernard."

"Yes, that's fine," Bernard smiled. "I'll see you later."

He walked into the Hall and left Hermione and Neville outside, looking at each other with a mixture of excitement and disappointment.

"He's not completely okay with it, is he?" Hermione asked.

"No, but he's trying to be, so he'll get there. He's been in similar situations before. But anyway, he was the easy part. Are you ready to deal with the kids?"

...

As they took their seats next to Juliet, Hermione was feeling more and more nervous by the second. Almost every student was in the hall. Normally, you'd be lucky to get more than half of them together at breakfast, as they could come and go as they pleased. It had to be that day that the hall was full, didn't it? Still, it meant they'd all know the truth, instead of half of them hearing the exaggerated version later.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Juliet asked. "You look ill."

"Oh thanks," she smiled weakly. "No, I just have to make an announcement to the students and I'm a bit nervous."

"What about?" Juliet asked.

"You have to promise you won't squeal or anything. Don't draw attention to us yet," Hermione warned.

"Why would I squ-" she started, before looking from a smiling Neville to a very nervous Hermione, who was looking almost green and had her hands in her pockets.

"You're engaged, aren't you?" she gasped. "Congratulations," she said, as they both nodded. "Before you make the announcement to the students, does Bernard know?"

"Yeah, we just spoke to him," Neville said. "We're all going out for drinks tonight to celebrate, if you want to come."

"That'd be great, as long as he doesn't mind me being there," she said.

"Not at all. We've already checked," Neville said. "It'll be like the good old days."

"The good old days which were actually just a month or so ago?" Juliet teased. "Anyway, I'm looking forward to it. So all that's left to do now is make your announcement."

Hermione groaned and slid down in her chair.

"We don't have to do it today, Hermione," Neville said. "We can wait."

"No," Hermione said, smiling nervously, "We'll do it now. Come on."

She stood up slowly, pulling Neville by the arm to get him to stand too for moral support. She cleared her throat, but the students' chatter didn't stop. Some of them stared at her angrily, annoyed that she'd interrupted their conversations, just like they'd done on her very first night. Memories of how vile they'd been before flashed through her mind, which didn't do anything to help with her nerves.

"Excuse me," Neville boomed, making the students and Hermione, jump. "Thank you," he said, as the students turned their attention to him. "Professor Granger and I have an announcement to make."

"Yes," Hermione said, as the students started whispering to each other. "I –"

"I don't remember either of us saying you could talk," Neville said sternly.

"Thank you," Hermione smiled, as the noise stopped. "Before I make this announcement, I would like to tell you all what I told the Gryffindors on their first night, which is that my personal life, and also Professor Longbottom's personal life now too, are none of your business. For Merlin's sake, _stop talking! _There's no need for you to start whispering after everything I say! Professor Longbottom and I are engaged, and we don't expect any bad behaviour or snide comments because of this. We just thought it would be courteous to let you know."

The pair sat down, amazed that the students _hadn't _started talking after that announcement. The Ravenclaws were smiling, and Jennifer was even bouncing up and down in her chair from excitement. The Hufflepuffs looked pleased too, probably because of their loyalty to their Head. The Gryffindors looked outraged though, and the Slytherins looked smug.

"That wasn't too bad," Juliet smiled.

"No, but I have Slytherins first thing this morning," Hermione sighed. "I was expecting them to be like this though."

"I have Gryffindors," Neville groaned. "We'll just have to keep looking forward to tonight. Today's not going to be fun."

...

Neville was right: he was having one of the worst lessons ever. The Gryffindors didn't want to work.

"Hey, Professor," one of them smirked, pointing to some plants. "Do you like what we've made here? These branches that are grabbing everything is Professor Granger, and this little plant that's stuck in its grasp is you!"

"Detention tonight," Neville said angrily, before remembering he was meant to be going out. He couldn't change it now; he needed to look strict. They'd have to go without him. They could all go together another time.

...

"Did you just try and make my hand turn black?" Hermione screeched at a group of laughing Slytherins.

"No, I was going for your engagement ring. I usually have really good aim, but that ring's very small," the girl laughed.

"Is that really anything to do with you? Detention tonight," she said angrily. "Actually-"

"What?" the girl asked. "Busy with Professor Longbottom tonight?"

"No," she lied. "I'll see you tonight."

...

"Bad news," Hermione said to her friends at dinner, "I put someone in detention tonight, so I can't make it out tonight. You all go though, and we'll celebrate together another time."

"I did the same thing," Neville laughed. "Shall we go at the weekend instead? You two still go though. Have a good time."

"I don't know," Juliet said. "Do you think that's a good idea, Bernard?"

Bernard thought for a moment. He hadn't really wanted to go at all. He'd just blurted it out in an attempt to seem fine with everything. Going with just Juliet would be even worse. They hadn't spent long periods of time together since they'd broken up, so it'd be really awkward. It'd be rude to say he didn't want to go though.

"I don't see why not. After all, we _are _friends. I'll meet you in here at about nine."

...

Bernard and Juliet hadn't planned on staying out late; they'd thought that the night would be uncomfortable and they'd both planned on feeling strangely "tired" after an hour or so. After three hours though, they were both still wide awake and deep in conversation.

"I had no idea you were interested in Runes," Bernard said animatedly. "I've done a bit of translation myself, but nothing near the level you've done."

"It's really just a hobby now," she replied. "I'm starting to look into other ancient languages too. There's not a lot in the library about it though. It's a shame there's no one who can teach it here. It'd be a useful O.W.L . for people to have."

"Yes, I agree entirely. We were always provided with translations of old texts in History of Magic lessons, and I often wished I could read the originals to get a better understanding and see how exact the translations were. "

"That's exactly what made me think about it too! I've only just got round to doing something about it though. I'm thinking of taking a trip to Diagon Alley soon to see what books they have about old languages. You should come too!"

"I'd like that very much!" he said excitedly. "I might have a few useful books in my quarters. We could go and look now."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Juliet said, smiling nervously. "We could meet in the library tomorrow though and put all our books together."

"Yes, that would be good. Oh," he said, looking around at the emptying pub, "I think they're closing. We should get going."

"I didn't realise it was so late," Juliet exclaimed. "The time has flown! Let's get back. We have to teach early tomorrow!"

They stepped out, shivering in the cold. Although they both liked a nice glass of wine, Bernard and Juliet weren't the type of people who liked going out and getting drunk, so they had no warmth from the alcohol. Pulling their cloaks tightly around them, they set off quickly towards the castle, before something caught Juliet's eye and she stopped in her tracks.

"Are you alright, Julie?" Bernard asked, moving back towards her.

"Yes, fine," Juliet said. "I've just seen a copy of tomorrow's Prophet though. Poor Hermione. How does news travel so fast?"

She rummaged in her bag before taking out some money and buying a copy. She unfolded it and held it up so Bernard could see the headline:

_**Heartless Hermione engaged! Why her poor fiancé should get out now, before it's too late! **_


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanks to all the people who reviewed and have added this fic to their alerts and favourites!

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**

"We have to show Hermione this now," Bernard said, taking the paper from Juliet and scanning the article. "I wonder who the 'source close to the heartbreaking witch' is."

"I'm sure Hermione'll have her suspicions," Juliet said. "Let's find her. We can't let her see this for the first time tomorrow morning when all the students will have their copies."

"She'll probably be in her own quarters tonight; Nev's on patrol," Bernard said. "We should probably find him too actually. There's some pretty horrible stuff written about him here too."

They apparated as close to Hogwarts as they could and walked briskly back to the castle. Bernard levitated the paper in front of them so they could read as they walked.

_**Heartless Hermione engaged!**_

_**Why her poor fiancé should get out now, before it's too late!**_

_**It seems hardly any time at all since we last wrote about Hermione Granger. Last summer we reported that the over-achieving know-it-all had callously dumped her fiancé, war hero and important Auror, Ronald Weasley. At the time, Weasley's family and friends told us that Granger had left because of her reluctance to carry on the Weasley name, claiming that someone like her had to breed with someone whose intelligence matched her own. Now, however, we have to wonder if that was a cunning cover, as it has emerged that Granger is engaged again, this time to childhood friend and colleague Neville Longbottom, Herbology professor at Hogwarts, after what is a seemingly short relationship.**_

"_**It's very likely that Hermione was seeing Neville while she was still with Ron," our source close to the heartbreaking witch tells us. "She started spending less time with Ron's family towards the end of their relationship and it seems now that she was spending that time with her new boyfriend. Officially, they've only been together since November, but I know both of them well, and Neville wouldn't propose after only a few months, and even if he did, Hermione wouldn't say yes. They're not spontaneous like that; they're very boring."**_

_**Don't be angry with Longbottom though, readers. Our source says, "I don't blame Neville for any of this. He's a nice guy, but he's always been a bit spineless. People always say how he grew up so much during the war, but they don't realise he's actually the same nervous, socially awkward little boy he always was. Once Hermione decided she wanted him, he wouldn't have been able to protest. That's probably why she went for him actually. She wanted to hurt Ron and she knew it'd be easy to get Neville. He needs to try and find some strength from somewhere though. She'll only get bossier and more controlling as their relationship progresses. He needs to leave her before he finds himself spending the rest of his life as her slave."**_

_**There's no date set for the wedding yet, but keep a close eye on our gossip column, as we'll be sure to let you know as soon as we find out. Of course, it's more than likely than history will repeat itself and she'll decide that Longbottom isn't good enough for her either. We'll have to wait and see!**_

"The Prophet really has gone downhill," Bernard muttered, tucking the paper under his arm. "I can't believe they have this rubbish on the front page."

"I can't believe they print it at all," Juliet said. "I thought after they sacked Rita Skeeter this nonsense would stop. It's all very tabloidy, isn't it?"

"Yes," Bernard replied. "It might be worth a letter of complaint actually, but let's not worry about that now. Let's focus on Hermione and Nev."

"Ok," Juliet said. "You go and find them, and I'll wake Minerva. She might be able to stop the Prophets coming in to the students tomorrow somehow."

"Wake her at this hour? You're a brave woman, Julie," Bernard laughed. "But that's a good idea. Come and find us when you're done. I'm sure Hermione will need some comfort, and you'll be a lot better at it than me!"

Juliet nodded, and set off up the stairs to McGonagall's quarters. Bernard turned down the corridor and walked straight into a suit of armour, which made horrible noise as it clanked on the floor.

"Get back to bed," a voice said. "Leave the armour where it is. If happen to run away now before I see you, you won't get in any trouble."

"Nev?" Bernard said, picking himself up off the floor and straightening his robes. "It's me, Bernard."

"Bernard?" Neville asked, running towards the armour. "What are you doing up? Where's Julie?"

"She's gone to see Minerva."

"At this hour? She'll be lucky to come out alive."

"Well, there's been an incident. I was just on my way to find Hermione. You should come too," Bernard said.

"Why?" Neville asked, panicking. "What's happened?"

"We saw today's Daily Prophet when we came out of the pub. You two are on the front page."

"Oh," Neville said. "I suppose it's stupidly optimistic to hope that they were saying something nice about us?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Bernard replied. "Come on Nev. We need to talk to Hermione."

They walked together in silence. Neville seemed to be lost in thought and Bernard didn't want to bother him. He had a lot to try and understand. In fact, Neville was silently seething. Why couldn't they be left alone? Surely there were more important things they could be reporting on.

They reached Hermione's quarters and Neville said the password and let them both in. He went into Hermione's bedroom. She was sleeping soundly, spread out across the whole bed with her hair covering her face. She looked so peaceful; it was a shame he was going to have to wake her up with such bad news.

"Hermione," he whispered, nudging her gently. "It's me. Wake up."

Hermione suddenly sat bolt upright and looked around in a panic.

"What time is it? Am I late?"

"No, it's only half one."

"Then why are you here? Who's on patrol?"

"No one. It's just that Bernard's here and he has some bad news about us and it's probably best to talk about it now."

Hermione nodded and followed Neville out of the room, squinting as she walked into the bright living room. Bernard was sitting on the sofa, twisting a newspaper in his hands. When she saw it, Hermione knew immediately what the bad news was going to be.

"Have you read it yet, Nev?" she asked.

Neville shook his head.

"No, I was waiting for you."

He took the newspaper from Bernard and put in front of them on the coffee table. There was silence for several minutes while they read the article. Bernard sat and watched them read. He had no desire to read the lies about his friends again. Hermione pursed her lips, but she remained fairly calm. She'd had worse written about her before, Bernard supposed. Neville was more upset by it, and his hands were shaking as he folded the newspaper and threw it at the bin in the corner of the room.

"I want to find out who told them all this," Neville said.

Hermione's eyes narrowed and she glanced over at Bernard. She knew she'd promised Neville she'd make more of an effort with his best friend, but now wasn't the time to be polite.

"Are you their source, Bernard?" she asked angrily.

Bernard sighed. He should've seen that coming. Of course she was going to think it was him. She didn't like him (and for good reason, he knew), he was close to them and she knew he wasn't happy about their relationship.

"No," he said earnestly. "I promise you this was nothing to do with me. I saw it for the first time with Juliet tonight."

"I believe you," Neville said, before Hermione could reply.

"Yes, I was going to say I believe you too," Hermione said, glaring at Neville, "before _someone _cut in and thought I was going to argue with you. I'm sorry; I know you're making an effort. It's just you were the first person I thought of. Actually, I think this has Lavender written all over it."

"Do you really think so?" Neville asked. "Surely she's over this whole thing now!"

"You'd think so, but you know what she's like," Hermione said darkly. "I'm sure we'll find out when we pay her a little visit tomorrow."

* * *

**Hmm..._was_ it Lavender? We'll find out in the next chapter, which will hopefully be up soon!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Thanks for the reviews everyone! I'll try and get the next chapter up soon to tie this bit up, but then there might be a break because I've got exams over the next few weeks. Stick with me though! I promise lots of quick updates as soon as they're over!

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**

Minerva came to see Hermione and Neville early the next morning, before breakfast.

"Juliet came to see me last night, but unfortunately there's no way I can stop the Prophets coming in. I have no control over it, I'm afraid."

"I'm not looking forward to today then," Hermione groaned.

"That's why I'm here," McGonagall said. "I'll talk to the students today at breakfast about it, but I think it would be better if you took the day off today until everything calms down. I wouldn't normally advise this, but I have a feeling that they'll be awful, armed with that article."

"But how will you manage without two teachers?" Hermione asked. She didn't want to take a day off, however horrible the students were going to be. She'd never missed a day of work before. "I can handle the students, Minerva. I'm fine to teach."

"I've got it all organised," McGonagall said firmly. "You can return tomorrow, after I've made the rules about this incident quite clear today. You won't hear a word about it from anyone if they like their free time in the evenings. You two stay up here today, or go to Hogsmeade or something."

"I think we'll go and visit Lavender then," Hermione said. "We'll see what she has to say about the article."

"Make sure you know it was her before you go throwing accusations around," McGonagall warned. "Think about everyone else it could've been."**  
**

"I'm certain it was her," Hermione said. "Thank you, Minerva. We'll be leaving now. See you tomorrow."

...

Hermione and Neville stepped out of the fireplace in Ron and Lavender's kitchen.

"Don't you think it's a bit rude to just walk in like this?" Neville asked uncertainly. "I thought we were going to apparate outside or something."

"I think it's rude of _her _to tell the Prophet rubbish about us, so we're even," Hermione replied. "Come on," she said, ignoring how Neville was going to answer back, "let's find her."

"Who's there?" Ron's voice called from behind the door.

Hermione and Neville stared at each other, frozen to the spot. They'd been so focussed on talking to Lavender, they'd completely forgotten about Ron.

"There's no point being quiet now. I heard your voices," Ron said. "I'm coming in, and my wand is drawn. I have the right to protect my own home."

That was the last thing Hermione wanted to hear. Ron was a very skilled Auror and he was more than capable of blasting them both through the wall before they could even work out what was happening.

"Don't do anything, Ron," Hermione called nervously. "It's Hermione and Neville."

Ron poked his head around the door, wand still drawn. When he saw that it really was them, he let his arm drop to his side, but he still looked angry.

"What are you doing in my kitchen?" he demanded.

"We're looking for your _lovely _wife," Hermione snapped back, her nerves disappearing and her anger returning. It was an automatic response; when Ron got angry, she would always answer back.

"Why? What do you want with her now? Do you want to pick on her some more, or make her cry again, or perhaps both?"

"Oh come on! I've never picked on her. You've only heard her side of the story!"

"And that's all I need. Let's save ourselves an hour of arguing, shall we? I'm going to defend my wife, Hermione. I know there's a bit of the drama queen in her, but she doesn't lie."

"I think you'll find she does," Hermione smirked.

"Ron," Lavender's high-pitched voice called from another room. "Are you shouting? You know how that upsets me."

"Sorry Lav," he called back. He turned to Hermione and Neville. "I think you two should go now."

"Not without seeing Lavender," Hermione said firmly. "We have to discuss something."

"No," Ron said, folding his arms. "You're not seeing her. She's not well."

"Ron, I can still hear you raising your voice," Lavender called.

"She seems well enough to me," Hermione said drily.

"Please, Ron," Neville said calmly, speaking for the first time, "can we see her? We want to ask her why she talked to the Daily Prophet about us."

"_That's _why you're here?" Ron sighed. "Lavender didn't do that."

Hermione snorted. Of course it was Lavender!

"That's not me defending her either," Ron said. "I know for a fact that it wasn't her."

"If you 'know for a fact'," she replied thoughtfully, "that implies that you know who it actually was."

"No," Ron said, blushing.

"Come on, Ron," she said. "I know when you're lying."

"Fine, but I'll defend her too if you start having a go at her. It was Ginny."

"_Ginny?"_ Hermione repeated. "Why? I've had nothing to do with her since we broke up."

"She's still angry about it, Hermione. You know she took it badly. When you left, her brother was upset, her husband was upset and she lost one of her best friends. You have to see it from her point of view."

Hermione knew Ginny was stubborn, and fiercely loyal, but she still wouldn't have expected her to this. They'd become really good friends when she and Ron were together. Didn't that mean anything? _Obviously not, _she thought casting her mind back to the Howlers she'd received and all the magazine articles about her last summer.

"No," she argued. "I'm seeing it from _my _point of view, and from here it seems completely insane. How can she _still _be angry?"

"You know what she's like. She's just looking after us. Ron said. "But I know Harry wasn't happy about it. He'd told her not to do any more interviews, but as soon as she found out, she flooed straight to the Prophet offices."

"How did she find out?" Neville asked, butting in.

"Ah," Ron said, looking uneasy. "Well, you know how news travels fast in our family. Mum found out from the parents of a pupil, then she told me and Lav, and then Lavender told Ginny, so it was kind of down to her I suppose."

"And you didn't think of warning me?"

"Why would I? We don't speak anymore, Hermione," Ron retorted. "We're ex-boyfriend and girlfriend. I'm hardly going to come round and tell you the latest news, am I? Although," he continued, with a hint of a smile on his face, "I _was_ going to owl you with my congratulations."

Hermione smiled. That was very decent of him, especially as she hadn't been very supportive of _his _wedding. She still thought he could've done better, although Ron probably thought the same about Neville.

"Thank you," she said politely, "and I'm glad everything's going well for you and Lavender."

"Thanks," Ron replied. "Well, it was nice to see you."

"Yes, and you," Hermione said, as Neville nodded in agreement. "We'll be off now. Good luck with everything."

"Ron," Lavender said, waddling into the room, "are you- Oh. Hello."

Hermione and Neville stared at Lavender. She looked completely different, mostly because she was heavily pregnant. Her usually perfect hair was greasy and scraped back in a ponytail, she wasn't wearing any makeup and she was wearing what looked like muggle maternity clothes, which were stretched around her enormous bump.

"Sorry," she said, "I thought whoever you were talking to had gone, because you'd stopped shouting. I wish you wouldn't shout so much, Ron," she said, her eyes watering.

"I'm sorry, Lav," Ron replied, taking her hand. "You know I try not to. You'll have to excuse her," he said to Hermione and Neville, "she's very hormonal."

Hermione almost pointed out that Lavender was always crying, whether she was pregnant or not, but she stopped herself. Lavender looked tired and thoroughly miserable. She didn't want to upset her, or make Ron jump to her defence and start shouting, which would make her cry too.

"Congratulations you two," she beamed. "I had no idea you were pregnant."

"It's twins," she replied. "If they're girls, I'm going to call them Daisy and Violet. If they're boys, I don't know yet. I need to think of some manly flowers, so they can be like their mummy." lol I like!

"I hope they're girls," Neville whispered in Hermione's ear, making her laugh. Luckily, neither Ron nor Lavender noticed.

"I've still got ages to work it out though," Lavender continued, her voice cracking. "I'm only a few months gone. I'm going to get even fatter and even more hideous."

"Don't be silly, Lav," Ron said, patting her hand. "You look beautiful. You're glowing."

"Yeah, right," Lavender said. "I look disgusting. People aren't meant to see me. Why have you let people see me? You're meant to tell them I'm too ill to talk to them."

"I'm sorry. It was an accident," Ron told her, ignoring the fact that she'd wandered into the room when she knew there might still be people there. "Let's sit you down. You look tired."

Hermione was amazed. If she'd said something like that to Ron, pregnant or not, he probably would've argued with her and they would have had a huge fight. It made her realise something: as annoying and drippy as Lavender was, she was perfect for Ron. He could fuss over her and look after her, whereas Hermione hated that. And in turn, she could stick herself to him and be with him, which he liked. When they'd been together, he'd always complained that they spent too much time apart.

"Ron, can I have my sandwich?" she called from the other room as Ron came back. "And remember, things made by magic make me sick."

"Of course," he called, taking a pile of food out of the fridge. "It'll be ready in about ten minutes."

"But I'm hungry now," she called back, bursting into tears.

"Ok, I'll go as quick as I can," he smiled.

"We'll leave you to that then," Hermione said. "Congratulations again."

"Thanks. You too," he replied.

"I think we'll go and have a word with your sister now," she said, the smile leaving her face.

Ron looked like he was going to argue with her, but stopped himself.

"Ok. Just make sure you use the door this time!"

* * *


	24. Chapter 24

**Right, this ties up this part of the story, and now there might be a break while I try not to fail my exams! Only 2 more written ones and my recital to go though! If I haven't put another chapter up by the end of the first week of June, feel free to tell me off because I'll be finished by then!**

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"I feel sick," Neville complained. "Why couldn't we have gone separately?"

"We don't know where they live. We could've ended up in completely different places if we hadn't apparated together. Anyway, don't worry. This looks like it. Ron said it was white with a red door. Is this Cranbrook Street?"

"Yeah," Neville said, pointing to a sign just down the road from them. "I never imagined Harry and Ginny living somewhere like this."

"I know what you mean. I always pictured them living somewhere in the countryside and having a house like The Burrow, like Ron and Lavender do actually. This just isn't them. I suppose it's convenient for work though."

Hermione looked down the street at the row of terraced houses. She'd always imagined them in a cottage on its own in the country, far away from everything, not in a nicely-kept, but small house with a green wheelie bin outside, no front garden and a sandwich bar just down the road.

"Right, let's have a word with the lady of the house, shall we?" she said.

She rang the doorbell and hoped and hoped that Harry would be the one to answer it. Her heart sank when she saw red hair through the frosted glass of the door. The door opened and Ginny's head popped round.

"Oh no! I don't think so," she snapped, going to close the door. Hermione caught a glimpse of her through the gap. She'd always been jealous of Ginny's looks. She had such interesting eyes, and beautiful hair. It was just a shame about the scowl which screwed up her face.

"I don't think you're in any position to be snooty," Hermione retorted. "We know you gave an interview to the Prophet and we want an explanation."

"Well, I'm not going to give you one."

"Come on Gin," Nev said, taking Hermione's hand to calm her down, "just let us have ten minutes. We just want to know why you did it. It's only fair."

"Fine," Ginny sighed, softening, "but be quiet. I don't want Harry knowing you're here."

She stepped aside and let Hermione and Neville in. Hermione gasped as she walked inside. The magazine interviews must have paid well; the house was decorated with some very expensive-looking furniture. It was all very modern and plastic. Hermione didn't like it; she'd been expecting old sofas covered in mismatched cushions and a roaring fire, but instead she saw a leather sofa, two chairs that looked like twisted pieces of plastic, and a big television. She sat herself down in one of the chairs and tried not to slide off it onto the floor.

"So, Ginny," she began, "why?"

"You hurt my brother. And you hurt Harry, however much he denies it."

"You sound just like Lavender," Hermione sighed. "Let them look after themselves."

"I'm sorry I'm not as cold as you," Ginny retorted. "I like to make sure the people I love are alright. And leave Lavender alone! She's a better friend to me than you ever were. She's not going to go running out on me for another man."

"We weren't seeing each other when she was with Ron, by the way," Neville said. "We only got together in November. We're just more spontaneous than you thought!"

"That's beside the point. She might as well have gone off with you in the summer anyway, the destruction she caused. You ruined everything, Hermione. We were happy after the war! We were all going to get married and be best friends and see each other all the time. I missed you all so much when you were looking for the Horcruxes. No offence, Nev, you and Luna were great friends to me, but I always just wanted to be with them. I wanted to help them. What if one of you had got badly hurt, Hermione? And what if I could've helped? Do you know how nervous I felt, not knowing what was happening, or whether you were all alright, or if you were _dead _and there was something I could've done? I decided that I was going to do everything I could after the war to keep us together, but you just ran away and messed everything up."

"So basically," Hermione said, breaking the silence, "you've been spreading lies and making everyone hate us because I ruined your stupidly idealistic view of how our future was going to be and because I upset two fully grown men who are perfectly capable of looking after themselves."

"Yeah, sorry. It seems so trivial when you put it like that," Ginny replied sarcastically.

"Come on, Hermione. You can see where she's coming from. I was with her in school when you lot were gone. She spent all her time worrying that something had happened to you. But Ginny, if things had worked out the way you wanted them to, she wouldn't have been happy," Neville said. "You were one of her best friends. Surely you want what's best for her."

"She could've been happy with Ron, if she'd made an effort."

"No, I couldn't have been!" Hermione snapped. "Ron and I changed too much. It wasn't going to work. I'm happy now, with Nev. And Ron's happy with Lavender. Everything's good now."

Ginny didn't reply, which made Hermione's cheeks turn bright red with anger. Neville noticed this and stepped in before the argument could get worse.

"We can understand why you're upset, but can't you just drop it now? We used to all be good friends and it's really upsetting how things have come to this. Hermione and I love each other and it's not fair that you're making people hate us just because you don't like that. Things can't always be how you want them to."

"Don't I know it!" Ginny groaned. She stared at the pair, still angry. It was obvious that she wanted them to leave, but Hermione wasn't ready to go. She wanted more out of this conversation. What it was, she wasn't sure. Perhaps she was hoping for an apology, although that was never going to happen!

"I'm not going to try and make you understand how what I did has been better for me. And no," she said, stopping Ginny from saying what she knew was coming, "that's not selfish."

"I'm never going to agree with you on that one, I'm afraid. Why don't you just go now?" Ginny said coldly.

"Gin? Would you mind if I spoke to them before they leave?" Harry said, walking into the room.

"How did you know they were here?" Ginny asked.

"I was walking past and heard voices," Harry shrugged.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Ginny sulked. "We've talked about this," she told Hermione and Neville. "He's been wanting to owl you two to talk to you. And not to tell you off about your behaviour either."

Harry gave Ginny an annoyed look before turning to Hermione and Neville.

"Well, what it is, Hermione, is I've missed having you around this past year. I was upset when you left us all, but really, what could you have done? You couldn't have married Ron when it wasn't what you wanted and you couldn't have stayed around after dumping him, especially when we all reacted the way we did. And Nev, I know you're a good guy. I'm happy you've got her, instead of some idiot I don't know."

Hermione turned to look at Neville. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Harry wasn't angry anymore?

"Well, anyway, Ron's moved on now, and he doesn't seem to upset about you two now. You should've seen him at Christmas; he was raging! You couldn't get him to shut up about it! But he's a lot happier about it now he's married."

"I noticed," Hermione said. "We just went to see him and we had a civil conversation. I was amazed."

"_I'm _amazed too," Ginny muttered. "That must be the first time in ages when you haven't bitten someone's head off."

"Ginny, please," Harry begged her. "Anyway, I know we can never go back to how we were when we were younger. I mean, you and Ron probably won't speak anymore, will you? I'd like us to keep in touch though. You were with me through some of the hardest years of my life. You helped us win the war. After everything you've done for me, I can't let you not be in my life anymore."

"What about Ginny?" Hermione asked, nodding at the sulky woman on the sofa next to him.

"He can do what he wants," Ginny snapped. "Just don't think because he's all soft and sentimental that we're all going to be."

"Ginny, that's unfair!" Harry said. "You can understand."

"Yeah, I can," she said, smiling tightly. "I just can't forgive her for what she's done to us all, even if you can."

"No one's asking you to," Harry told her, squeezing her hand. "You know you don't have to have anything to do with it. We won't even come here."

"That's right. You won't."

"But I will be spending time with her again."

"Fine."

"Harry," Hermione asked, interrupting his disagreement with Ginny, "would you maybe like to come to the wedding?"

Harry paused for a moment, obviously thinking hard. Hermione felt worried all of a sudden. Should she have asked? Was it too fast? Was that getting closer to her than he'd planned? Maybe he'd just meant sending the occasional owl when he'd said he'd wanted to keep in touch.

"Yeah, I'd like to come," Harry replied, smiling. "After all, I don't want to miss the most important day of one of my friends' lives.

...

After another half hour so of arguing with Ginny and promising Harry they'd owl him soon, Hermione and Neville left.

"Wow, that was a long day," Neville yawned.

"Yes, productive though," Hermione beamed. "Even though Ginny was a cow and Lavender was a pain in the arse, I know that Ron doesn't hate me, even if he doesn't like me very much, and Harry wants to be friends again!"

"Yeah, it's been good," he smiled, taking her hand. "Are you ready to go back to the awfulness of the school now?" he asked.

"I suppose so," she sighed. "What do you say to grabbing some food in Hogsmeade and then going back up to my room and then just lazing around and being boring?"

"Boring? With you?" Neville laughed. "I don't think that's possible!"


	25. Chapter 25

**Wow! It's been a while! Sorry! After my exams I just couldn't make myself write, and anything I did write was rubbish. Last night I just sat down and was like, "I'm not going to bed until I write something half-decent." This is what I came up with. I hope it _is _actuallyhalf-decent!

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"News travels fast, doesn't it?" Neville said as he flopped down onto the sofa in the staff room next to Hermione, Juliet and Bernard. "This morning, the students were awful and then after lunch they all seemed to know that Harry likes us again and they were much nicer."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. "Well, most of them were nicer anyway. The Slytherins are still being horrible, but then I suppose a lot of them have been brought up to not care about Harry Potter and what he thinks."

"Yeah, I can tell you've had Slytherins today. You've got some strange slime on your back," Neville said, trying to wipe it off.

"That wasn't them," Hermione laughed drily. "That was the Gryffindors! There are still a couple who don't like me, even though most of them have been much better today. It seems that not of them worship Harry after all, or the Weasleys have some very loyal friends at least."

"Oh, speaking of Harry, did you notice the letter I left on your coffee table this morning?" Neville asked her, giving up on trying to clean off the slime, which seemed to be getting brighter the more he rubbed it.

"No, I ran out in a hurry after you because you forgot your wand, remember?" she reminded him with a smile. "Did you read it?"

"Yeah, it was addressed to both of us. He wants to know if we fancy Hogsmeade tonight."

"It's short notice, isn't it?"

"Yeah, he apologised for that. It's not like we're doing anything though, and he's obviously keen to see us," Neville said. "We should go."

"Ok. Let's just be careful not to give out any detentions today!" she laughed.

"Well, I've only got Ravenclaws, so I think I'll be alright," Neville smiled.

"I've got Gryffindors, but they're the older ones with the parents who worship Harry," she said, nodding. "I think we'll be ok."

"If you need to give anyone detentions, we don't mind supervising them for you," Juliet said, looking up from the papers that covered hers and Bernard's laps. "We're not really doing anything tonight, just working on these."

"Ok, thanks," Hermione smiled. "What are those about? Runes?"

"Yes, we're trying to work out what elements of very early magical languages can be found in runes and if runes are related to any of the languages which appeared afterwards." Bernard explained.

"Sounds fascinating!" Hermione said.

"'Fascinating' isn't quite the word I'd use," Neville laughed, "but then I was hopeless at runes! Dropped the class after three lessons! Anyway," he said, looking at the watch Hermione had bought him for Christmas, "I have a reminder saying I have to pot the Mandrakes in ten minutes so I'd better go. See you lot later!"

"In that case, I'll leave you two to your various languages," Hermione smiled.

"Oh no, you don't have to leave! We're not really working on them now, just having a look at them. We're going to work on them properly in the library tonight," Bernard insisted.

"I've got homework to mark anyway," Hermione said. "I'll see you both at dinner. Actually, Julie, can I talk to you for a minute outside?"

"Um, yeah, ok," Julie replied, sliding the papers off her lap. "I'll be back in a minute Bernard."

Juliet followed Hermione out of the room, feeling confused and slightly dreading what was coming. Hermione had that look in her eye: the one where she was about to meddle.

"Julie," Hermione started, closing the door behind them, "are you sure this is a good idea?"

"What's a good idea? This project?"

"Well, yes. The project's obviously very interesting, but don't you think working on it with Bernard is perhaps a bad idea?"

"I don't see why you think that," Juliet said shortly.

"You two used to be together, and even though you're insisting on this 'being friends' nonsense, which is fine if that's what you want to do, surely you can see it's a bad idea to spend so much time with him. You're going to be alone together in the library tonight," Hermione pointed out to her. "You're either going to get back together or kill each other."

" No, we'll be _working_, not sitting around chatting or anything. And besides, if we _did_ get back together, would that be such a bad thing?"

Hermione's lips thinned and she stared at Juliet, who stared at the floor.

"Juliet, do you still have feelings for Bernard?"

"No!" she almost shouted. "Well, maybe I still like him a little bit," she mumbled, melting under Hermione's glare.

"Julie, you can't work with him!"

"Why not?" Juliet said, her voice rising with every word. "I'm a grown woman and perfectly capable of keeping my feelings under control. They're not even big feelings anyway, not big enough for me to want to do anything, and besides, I'm aware that our relationship ended for a reason. I'm working with Bernard on this because he's intelligent, enthusiastic about the project and he's a nice man to have around. I know you don't like him, Hermione, but I do, and I think he's the perfect person to work on this with."

"Fine," Hermione sighed. "Calm down, Julie. I'm just worried about you."

"There's no need for you to be," Juliet replied, opening the staff room door to go back in, "It'll be fine. I'll see you later."

"All sorted then?" Bernard asked.

"Yes," she replied, taking the papers and ordering them by slamming them down on the table in front of them.

"Are you alright? I heard shouting. It sounded like you actually, but surely sweet Juliet Taylor doesn't shout."

"Well you know what Hermione's like. She interferes sometimes," Juliet said. "I just got a bit annoyed."

"Well it's about time someone shouted at her. I would, but that's what got me in trouble last time, and I want to get back into her good books. Because she's marrying my best friend, not because I care what she thinks," he said quickly, noticing Juliet's look.

Juliet nodded and stared at the sheet in front of her. Bernard _did _care what Hermione thought of him; he cared about what everyone thought, but she wasn't about to point that out to him. She didn't want another argument, especially because he'd just reminded her of the time when he'd completely lost it, when he'd admitted he still loved Hermione.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Bernard asked quietly.

"Yes, I'm fine, but I'm not really taking any of this in now," she said. "I think we should leave it until tonight."

"Ok," Bernard agreed. "I think we need a break before we start properly. Now, which of these sheets are yours?"

"These," she said, taking the pages from the bottom of the pile he was holding. Her hand brushed against Bernard's as she did so, and she moved it away quickly.

"Yes, well, I'd better prepare for my next lesson," he said, clutching his sheets to his chest. "See you tonight."

"Ok," Juliet said, blushing. "Is around eight still ok?"

Bernard nodded and left the room quickly.

Juliet sighed and put her sheets in order before leaving the room. She caught sight of herself in the mirror by the door as she left and noticed her pink cheeks.

"What are you blushing for, Julie?" she asked herself sternly. "Get a grip!"

...

Juliet was in the library half an hour before Bernard to sort out the books, and so she could prepare herself. She'd had a silly moment of weakness in the staff room before. It was all Hermione's fault for bringing the idea up to the front of her mind when they'd argued earlier. She didn't really have any feelings for him at all, only a few, and they could quite easily be forgotten, or at least ignored. They were good friends now and they'd found out they had a lot in common. It was only natural for her to remember the good times.

"Hi, Juliet!" Bernard greeted her. "You're very organised! Or am I late?"

"No," she replied calmly. "I thought I'd get some of the relevant books out ready for us to save some time."

"Good idea," he smiled. "What are we doing tonight?"

"I thought we'd study runes themselves first, just to make sure we're completely up to scratch. I don't know about you, but it's been a while since I've studied them for work rather than pleasure. Then, once we feel we're confident, we can start looking at other languages."

"Good idea," Bernard said. "It's been a while since I've properly looked at runes at all to be honest. It'll be good to have a recap."

"I think this book will be the most helpful," Juliet said, sliding it between them. "Madame Pince says it's the most informative she has."

"Great," Bernard smiled.

The pair started to read, sharing the book between them. They both focussed on the work in the front of them and nodded when they were ready to move onto the next page. It was Bernard who broke the silence, about an hour later.

"Shall we take a break?" he asked, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "The print's very small and I can feel myself going cross-eyed."

Juliet nodded. "I suppose five minutes off would be a good idea. Have you made many notes? I've got quite a lot on the formation of words, but not so much on the grammar side of things."

"I've got a fair bit on the grammar," he said, looking over his notes.

"Oh good," she smiled.

"Are we going to work on this over the summer, by the way?" Bernard asked.

"Maybe," she said. "I don't know how we're going to work it out, but if we can make arrangements, then probably."

"Ok," he smiled. "You know, it's funny. You never mentioned your interest in runes while we were going out. It's the kind of thing you'd think two people like us would discuss!"

"Bernard, I think it'd be better if we didn't talk about the time when we were together for now. As we're friends now, and it's a relatively new thing for us, I think it would complicate things if we talked about our relationship."

"Right," Bernard said, looking slightly confused, "shall we carry on reading then?"

...

"I hope you don't mind being in the back room," Harry said apologetically. "I just thought that if we were out there, we'd get a lot of nosy people."

"Of course we don't mind," Hermione smiled. "What with you being Harry Potter, me being devil-woman and Neville not being Ron, it's probably a good idea!"

Harry laughed. "Yeah. I was surprised to not see anything in the Prophet today about it actually. There are so many Rita Skeeters working for them now!"

"Hermione needs to catch them all and keep them in jars," Neville said, squeezing his fiancée's hand.

"She does!" Harry agreed. "Do you think you can fit that in with your teaching, Hermione, or are there too many mini-Golden Trios running around that you need to keep under control?"

"There are a couple, but if only they were the troublemakers," Hermione sighed. "There are so many little Malfoys and Crabbes and Goyles! One's been suspended for almost burning my hand!"

"Merlin! That sounds worse than Malfoy!" Harry exclaimed. "Actually I saw him the other day! He's not really much of a ferret anymore! More of a hamster with chubby cheeks!"

Neville laughed. "It's all that lying around all day doing nothing except counting his money!"

"Well I'm sure he'll be doing more exercise soon. Astoria's pregnant, so he'll be chasing a kid around in the not-too-distant future."

"Ugh, the thought of Malfoy making a kid isn't a nice one," Neville laughed.

"It's really not!" Hermione agreed. "I can't believe I didn't know that though. We really miss out on the gossip being in Hogwarts and not having any friends outside!" Hermione said.

"I'd probably miss out on it too if I didn't always hear Ginny and Lavender gossiping," Harry laughed. "So much space in my brain has been taken up by who's marrying who and who has what haircut!"

"Yeah, I always used to hear stuff from Lavender and Parvati when I was in school. I know how you feel," Hermione smiled.

"Oh! Parvati has the _worst _haircut now," Harry said in a high squeaky voice, making them all burst into fits of giggles.

"I'm so glad I'm not a girl!" Neville laughed. "So do you see anyone else from school?"

"Not really. Cho and Ginny play Quidditch together so I see her sometimes and I run into some of them at work, Ernie and Daphne and some others, but they work in different departments. To be honest, I only really see the people who were in the Order. Anyway, enough about me. When's the big day for you two?"

"Oh, we haven't decided yet," Hermione said. "We were thinking of letting everything die down in the press and things first."

"Well, anything I can do to help with that, let me know. I know you don't like people helping you out, Hermione, but I can talk to the papers and stuff and get them to see it your way. And I don't want to sound big-headed, I can probably use my fame to influence a lot of people. Don't let other people dictate when you get married. It's your choice!"

"Thanks, but you're right; I don't like people helping me out, so I'd like to avoid that if we can. Besides, I'm sure there'll be a story about you supporting us in the Prophet tomorrow, so that might sort things anyway. A lot of the kids have been nicer today after finding out, probably through Lavender or Ginny."

"Apart from the ones who put slime down your back," Neville said.

"And the ones who tried to levitate me by the hair!" Hermione added.

"Wow! I know I shouldn't laugh, but that's pretty cool. I mean, imagine if someone had done that to Snape," Harry chuckled. "Yes, I know we misjudged him," he said, when Hermione opened her mouth to protest, "but you have to admit he was horrible when he was teaching."

"Really? He was always one of my favourites!" Neville joked.

Harry smiled. "This is fun, talking to you both again. You two are still the same as before. I mean that in a good way, don't worry!"

"Yeah, so are you," Hermione said. "We have to do this again soon!"

"Oh _yes_, we simply _must_," Harry said in his woman voice. "Another drink?"


	26. Chapter 26

**Thanks for the reviews and everything! Hopefully you'll like this chapter too! The next one's half-written, so it should be up soon. Then again, I always say that! I'll do my best to be quick though!

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"I have to admit, Nev," Hermione said quietly, "I'm a bit nervous about this. In fact, I'm feeling a bit sick. I don't know whether it's because I'm still a little hungover or because I'm coming down with something. Perhaps I shouldn't go today. It's not a good idea to be in a hospital if I'm ill. I might pass something on to someone."

She sighed. Her sick feeling was from being nervous, she knew that. She'd had that feeling so many times: facing Death Eaters when she was younger, and then more recently when she'd had the feeling things weren't right with Ron, when she'd upset Bernard and whenever she'd talked to Neville after an argument, which weren't as nerve-wracking as the Death Eaters, but pretty scary all the same! The little voice in her head was telling her to grow up and be brave, and even though the little voice was right as always, Hermione just wanted to ignore it for once and go back to bed. That morning, Neville had woken her up with a hangover potion and the announcement that he was going to visit his parents and he'd like her to go with him. She didn't like that he'd sprung it on her like that. She would've preferred time to prepare, but she'd have to deal with it. Why did the voice in her head have to be so reasonable?

"Sorry," she said, "It's just going to be so hard to deal with seeing them like that."

"I know. It's still hard for me too, even after all this time," Neville replied softly. "It might be a bit upsetting at first, it always is for me when I first go in, but the longer you're in there, the easier it'll get. It'll feel completely normal by the time we have to leave. Also, just to warn you, Dad might not recognise me at first. That's the hardest part, but we can't show them if we get upset because they understand that and then they'll get upset too. That's one of the most horrible things to see, so we have to try and pretend that we're happy from the moment we go in, ok?"

"Ok," she whispered, her eyes misting up. "I can do that."

"Yes, of course you can," he said, squeezing her hand. "Just take a minute to calm down."

Hermione nodded and swallowed to try and get the lump in her throat to go away, but she couldn't. She should've asked to come ages ago when she first started seeing Neville, but she'd been too nervous. She could still remember when she'd seen them briefly when she was fifteen. They'd looked awful and to be honest, although she hadn't given it much thought, she'd assumed that they'd be dead a few years later. She couldn't get the image of them out of her head. They were about the same age as her parents, but they'd looked older than her grandparents. Just the thought of it made her eyes well up, and she was terrified that she was going to burst into tears when she met them properly. Neville had warned her that they'd got worse over the years, and they basically had to be treated like small children most of the time.

"Come on Hermione," Neville said. "It's time to be brave. It'll make it easier for all of us."

"Ok," she sniffed, following Neville into the room.

Entering the room, she tried to force herself to smile, but she just couldn't do it when she saw them. Neville's Dad screamed and ran away from them when he saw them, but his body couldn't carry him and he collapsed on the floor. It was padded, which was lucky, but made Hermione realise that he probably ran away from Neville every time he visited. How could he cope with his own father being scared of him?

Neville seemed to be used to it, because then he turned to his mother, who was sitting in a big chair with her knees pulled up to her chin, looking at him suspiciously. An unnaturally wide smile was plastered across Nev's face, which would have made anyone else feel uncomfortable, but it obviously had the opposite effect on his Mum, who put her knees down and sat normally, smiling in exactly the same way.

"Hello," Neville said in a cheerful voice that was obviously false. "I've brought Hermione with me today. I was talking about her last week, remember? We're going to get married soon, just like you two."

Neville's Mum seemed to understand what he'd said because she burst into a long, passionate speech, putting her hands to her heart and speaking quickly. Her voice was only a croak though, worn by screaming and shouting and none of what she was saying made any sense. It was all gibberish.

"Thank you," Neville said when she stopped. "Hermione's very _happy _to meet you, aren't you?" he said, giving her a pointed look. She realised she obviously wasn't smiling enough, or at all.

"Yes," she said, stretching her face into a smile that matched his and his mother's. "It's lovely to meet you, Mrs Longbottom."

Neville's Mum let out a snarl at this and then started sobbing into the dirty brown blanket she'd been clinging to.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione. I should've mentioned, she only likes being called Alice or Mum."

"Oh my God, Nev," Hermione whispered hoarsely, "I've made your mum cry! I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine," Neville said, squeezing her arm. "I didn't tell you. Mum," he said brightly, trying to make her look up at him. "Mum mum mum."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as his mother started to giggle again. It was quite disturbing though that even when Alice laughed, her eyes stayed completely dead, with no sign of life or sparkle in them at all. They were tired eyes, with huge black rings under them and wrinkles at the corners, matching the rest of her papery skin which you'd expect to find on someone much much older.

"Nev, your Dad's coming to," Hermione whispered as the scarily thin man struggled to pick himself up off the floor.

"So he is. Hi, Dad. Do you remember me now? It's me, Neville."

Neville's Dad made a noise that sounded a bit like Neville's name and smiled. He couldn't get up off the floor, so he lay down on his back instead.

"Should you help him up?" Hermione asked.

"No, he doesn't like people touching him. It's best to just leave him," Neville replied. "Dad, I was just telling Mum about Hermione here. We were talking about her the other week and I was saying how she had brown hair just like yours was."

Neville's Dad let out a noise that sounded like he was confirming that he remembered.

"We're going to get married soon. Isn't that exciting?"

"YES!" he shouted.

"I'm excited too," Neville laughed, seeming to calm down a bit. He was right; after a while you sort of got used to it and could relax a bit more. Hermione found herself loosening up and finding it easier to smile. "And do you know what other exciting news I have? I talked to Harry Potter the other day."

Hermione didn't know how they could've possibly heard of Harry or know about anything he'd done, but they obviously knew somehow that Harry was good and they laughed and shouted for a good quarter of an hour before letting Neville talk about something else.

...

"That was a good day for them," Neville said when they left. "Don't even think about what a bad day would be like."

"I'm not sure I want to, but I'll find out for myself soon, won't I?" Hermione said sadly.

"You don't have to. You don't have to come back with me again. I just wanted you to come the once so they could see you."

"Of course I'll be coming back," Hermione said. "After finding out what it's like, I'm not going to let you do this on your own!"

"But it was horrible for you today."

"It was horrible for you too, and you keep coming back. I love you, and you're not going through this on your own ever again."

Neville smiled. "Thank you. Have I ever mentioned how much I love you?"

"Yes," Hermione said, "but you can tell me again if you want."

"Ok, I love you."

Hermione giggled. "I know, but you haven't actually told me how much!"

"Ok. Well, I love you-."He paused. "A lot. Now, do you love me too?"

"Hmm," Hermione said, but apparated before Neville could hear her reply.

Neville joined her outside Hogwarts a second later. "Well?" he asked with a smirk.

"I suppose I like you a bit," she teased. "You know I love you a lot too!"

"Being cheeky are we, Hermione?" he asked. "I think you need to be taught a lesson!"

Hermione shrieked and ran up the path away from him, straight into Professor McGonagall's patronus.

"Careful," she said with a smile, "the students are sleeping. Neville, can I see you in my office? It's urgent."


	27. Chapter 27

**Thanks for the reviews and everything! Has anyone seen HBP yet? There's one shot of Neville and Hermione standing next to each other. My inner fangirl squeed!**

**I'm nearing 100 reviews for this fic now, so it'd be great if you could leave one on this chapter if you have a minute, preferably a good one!**

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Neville left Hermione at the portrait and carried on walking briskly to Minerva's office. He wondered what the urgent problem was. There weren't any people running around the corridors panicking or anything, so whatever it was, it couldn't be that bad surely. But then again, Minerva wouldn't have sent a patronus late at night if it wasn't something that had to be sorted immediately. He'd promised Hermione that he'd come to her quarters if he wasn't kept too late upstairs, but he had a feeling it was going to take a while, unfortunately. He was exhausted after the day he'd had and he just wanted to collapse into bed.

He reached the gargoyle and paused while he struggled to remember the password. He'd learned his lesson back in third year about not writing them down, but that meant that he had to spend ages outside doorways muttering to himself. It was always annoying, but it was especially so tonight, when he was in a hurry.

"Sporran," he said after a while, hoping he'd get it right. He breathed a sigh of relief as the gargoyle moved and he stepped through. He could see Minerva standing in the doorway before he even got close enough to knock. She was wearing her dressing gown and her hair was sticking up, meaning she'd been woken up. He sighed, anticipating a bad mood.

"Neville," she whispered, approaching him. Neville noticed that she didn't seem annoyed, just tired and maybe a little confused. He'd never seen her look like that before and it made him feel quite nervous.

"I don't know what's going on," she said quietly. "You'll probably understand better than me. You know- oh let's just go in. I can't explain."

Neville followed her through the door, almost hiding behind her. She pointed to another door to the left, but made no move to go in herself. Neville looked at her, but couldn't read any expression on her face, so just walked in.

"Finally," a familiar voice said. "I've been waiting here for ages!"

"Luna?" Neville asked. "What are you doing here?" He nearly added "at this time of night," but he remembered it was Luna he was talking to and the time didn't mean anything to her. It was dinnertime whenever she was hungry, bedtime whenever she was tired and time to go out whenever she felt like going out. He'd had a messed up body clock when they'd been together!

"Well," Luna said in her usual dreamy way, "I'm back now."

"Back from where?" Neville asked. It was no wonder Minerva had looked confused.

"Back from travelling. Remember last summer I said I was going to go away for a bit again?"

"Luna, we had a fight and we broke up," Neville said.

"No we didn't," Luna laughed. "I told you I had to follow the Flootangs away from you, and now they've brought me back."

"Well I'm glad you were able to follow them for so long," Neville smiled, "but you never told me you were going to come back."

"I didn't think I had to," Luna replied. "I thought you knew that."

"But we had a big argument about how we couldn't see things working anymore, you came and took your stuff and I haven't heard anything from you for almost a year."

"I ran out of Floo. And parchment," she said simply. "And we had lots of arguments, but we stayed together. You just misunderstood me again! But anyway, I'm back now, but McGonagall wouldn't let me in your quarters. I saw Bernard too, and he looked a bit like he's got phiamice living in his hair too."

"Well," Neville said, trying to ignore the embarrassment that he knew exactly what she meant and focus on the more important issue instead, "that's because there's a slight problem with you coming back here. Have you read the papers recently?"

"I only read the Quibbler, you know that."

"I can't believe you haven't heard. I'm sorry, Luna, but I'm with Hermione Granger now."

"You're cheating on me?" Luna asked, her voice losing its usual dreamlike quality and coming out higher and harsher.

"No!" Neville said. "You know me, Luna. I'm not like that. It's just that I thought we were broken up, so I moved on."

"Your brain's full of wrackspurts! You haven't been putting your nets up have you? I even left them at the flat for you when I left because we found out how easily they got to you at Easter didn't we?"

Neville sighed. Over Easter he'd had the flu and had had a very high temperature, which had made him see things. Luna had sprayed him with some disgusting smelling potion and hung bits of fishing net from the ceiling. It had been one of the moments in their relationship when he'd started to wonder how much more of Luna's ideas he could take. He'd found it sweet at first, but when he was in need of some chicken soup and sleep and he ended up soaked in potion and smelling like melted cauldron, it was quite frustrating. He just wanted normality. When he'd suggested that though, it'd been the start of one of the fights that had led to their break-up.

"Luna," Neville said, trying to patient, despite the headache he could feel beginning, "I don't have wrackspurts. They've left me alone since you've been gone, pretty much."

"You never know when they're there," Luna laughed. "They wouldn't be famous for their stealth otherwise, would they? Come on, I'll brew up some repellent. I can use your little cauldron in your room."

"No, you can't," Neville said sternly. He wanted to let Luna down gently, but he was losing patience. "I love Hermione now and we're engaged."

Luna's face didn't change, and neither did her voice when she finally spoke.

"No, you don't love her. You always said you loved me."

"Well I'm sorry, but I don't anymore. I thought you'd left me."

"You're confused."

"No, I'm not," Neville said softly. "I'm completely certain."

He looked at her for any change of expression, but found nothing. With any luck, their argument, or disagreement, as Luna would've preferred to call it, was over. Their fights had never lasted long; one of them always gave up because they both hated conflict, even when they were only arguing about the little things. Even the fight they'd had before they'd broken up had only gone on for a little while. Just like she'd done several times before, Luna shrugged her shoulders, nodded and walked out of the room with her bags following her, leaving Neville with the feeling that he probably felt worse about the whole thing than she did. He waited until he was certain she was gone before leaving the room. Minerva was nowhere to be seen; he guessed she'd gone back to bed.

With a sigh, he walked down to his own room; it was too late to wake Hermione. Wrackspurts! What a load of nonsense! He was so happy with sensible Hermione, he couldn't think how he ever found that cute. Being in love diddo strange things though! Maybe he'd risk waking her and see Hermione after all, and remind himself how lucky he was.


	28. Chapter 28

**Gah! Sorry about the long wait! I've been on tour with my orchestra for two weeks and I tried to finish this before I left, but didn't quite manage it! We're nearing the end of this fic now, with only one more chapter and an epilogue to go. Hopefully I'll be a bit quicker with the last two updates!**

**Thanks for all the reviews and adds to various faves and alerts lists. It's really flattering that some people have me as a fave author! Thanks!

* * *

**"Thanks for coming everyone," Hermione smiled, looking around the table. Harry had booked the private room in the Three Broomsticks again, and Hermione had promised to buy her friends all the drinks they wanted while they helped her plan the wedding. "Harry, this is Bernard, the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, and Juliet, the Transfiguration professor. Bernard and Julie, I'm guessing you already know Harry Potter!"

As they greeted Harry, Hermione noticed slight changes in the way her friends acted: Bernard sat up much straighter and was even more polite than usual, saying that it was "an honour" to finally meet him, while Juliet blushed when Harry kissed her on the cheek. If people like them, who Hermione considered more sensible than most, were slightly starstruck, maybe it _was _worth asking Harry to try to influence people's opinions of her and Neville. She made a mental note to ask him about it later.

"Right," she said when everyone was sat down with their drinks in front of them, "We're hoping we'll be able to have our wedding this summer. You were right, Harry. We shouldn't let other people decide when we're going to get married. The only problem is we don't have a lot of time, even if we have it right at the end of the summer, so we need your help."

"We'd been more than happy to," Bernard said. "What do you need us to do?"

"Well first of all," Neville said, "will you be my best man?"

"Of course," Bernard smiled. "I'm flattered that you've asked me, especially after the way I behaved when – Well, you know."

"Bernard, we agreed to put that behind us. As far as I'm concerned, it never happened."

Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was too nice for his own good sometimes, but then again, Bernard _was _his best friend.

"And Julie, will you be my chief bridesmaid? Well, you'll be my only bridesmaid, but still, you'll be in charge," Hermione said.

"You don't even need to ask," Juliet beamed.

"So," asked Harry, "where are you going to have the ceremony?"

"Well, that's the next thing," Hermione said. "We don't know. We want kind of a mixture of muggle and wizard, so they won't let us have it at the Ministry."

"Why don't you have two services? You could have a Muggle one in a church and the wizarding one at the Ministry," Harry suggested. "That's what Dean did."

"It's a lot of fuss though," Hermione said. "I think one service is enough."

"We were thinking of having it outdoors, but we don't know anywhere suitable," Neville said. "Any ideas?"

"Well, it's going to have to be in a wizarding area," Bernard said, thinking aloud. "Or we'll have to do some pretty tricky magic to keep people away."

" That gives me an idea! How about the field we stayed in at the Quidditch World Cup?" Harry asked. "That was in a nice area."

"Yeah, but think about what happened there with the Death Eaters," Hermione said. "It's kind of spoiled it. And last time we were there, it was with Ron and Ginny and everyone. I think we need somewhere new."

"The other thing to think about is if we'd actually be able to fill a field," Neville pointed out. "We're not exactly the most popular people in the world!"

"Well, we'll be there," Harry said, "and the Hogwarts staff will be too, and Hagrid takes up quite a lot of room!"

"And my family will all be there," Hermione said. "There's quite a few of them."

"My parents'll come, and Gran, and my Great Uncle Algie and Great Aunt Enid. I haven't spoken to them for a while, but they'll want to be there. Oh, and speaking of Gran, I had an owl from her today. She says we can use the family house elves to help with the food and setting up the venue."

"I thought she only had one," Hermione said.

"Yeah, she has one at the house, and then there are others who just go between various family members. We had them at Christmas, remember?"

"Oh yeah," Hermione said. "But, Nev – "

"Don't start that!" Neville said. "She considers it her present to us, and we can't very well organise everything without them. It's a big deal to be allowed to have them as well. Some members of our family aren't considered important enough to have them. Besides, do you want to argue with Gran?"

"No, not really," Hermione laughed. "Anyway, there's one more person I want to invite. Juliet, will you ask Jennifer if she'd like to come? She was one of the few students who was always nice to me."

"I'm sure she'd love to," Juliet smiled.

"Is there anyone else?" Bernard asked. "You'll need more to fill a field."

"Or we can just give everyone lots of room," Hermione said. "I like the field idea, but there's no point inviting people we don't want there and who don't like us just to fill up the space."

"So that's decided then," Juliet said. "Bernard and I will look into finding a field for you first thing tomorrow, and then I'll come round and help you write and send the invitations."

"And I'll pop round to your Gran's with you, Nev," Harry said, "and we'll start talking House Elf numbers. If you decide on some ideas for the menu tonight too, we can talk through that with them."

"There's so much to do!" Hermione sighed. "Thank Merlin it's the weekend. Wait," she said, turning to Juliet and Bernard, "weren't you planning on doing a big chunk of your research tomorrow?"

"We don't have to stick to our schedule strictly," Bernard smiled. "Don't you worry about that. We've got plenty of time."

"Thanks everyone," Hermione said, feeling a little choked up. "We're so lucky to have friends like you."

As more of the plans were made, and more drinks were poured, the conversation strayed from Hermione and Neville's wedding. They learned more about what Harry's job as an Auror entailed, and were surprised at the amount of work he still had to do, even with the number of cases involving dark magic being at an all-time low. Juliet and Bernard talked more about their work with ancient languages, and Hermione felt a little mean for making a fuss about them working together. They were obviously both very passionate about it, and they seemed to be making good progress already. Bernard had even mentioned that the university he used to teach at was interested in their findings.

"Well," said Juliet, standing up, "I think I'm going to head off to bed now. It's late, and there's a lot to do tomorrow."

"I think we'll come too," Neville said, taking Hermione's hand. "I'm feeling a bit light-headed, and I don't want to have to take any hangover potion tomorrow. I can't stand the taste!"

The group nodded in agreement and all got up to leave. Seeing Madam Rosmerta coming in to take their glasses, Hermione arranged to meet her friends outside while she paid their bill for the night. Finding the right coins in her slightly drunken state wasn't easy, and it took her a while. For the hundredth time, she wished that wizards would invent banknotes. Once she'd finally managed to count out the fiddly knuts, she left the room , to be greeted by shouting. As she walked towards the door to find her friends, she saw them just inside, and was shocked to see that it was _them _ causing the scene.

"What's going on?" she asked, running over.

"Oh, and here she is," a familiar voice slurred. "I thought she'd be around here somewhere. She wouldn't let her poor fiancé out on his own."

"Oh give it a rest, Ginny," Neville said, raising his voice a little. "We can't be bothered with this anymore. You're not dragging us into a fight. Come on everyone, let's go."

"Ooh, Longbottom's showing he has a spine, at last," Lavender cackled. "It's only taken him twenty-odd years,"

"Lavender, I don't think that's very fair," Luna said. "Neville-"

"Luna, you're not on his side anymore. You don't like him. He cheated on you, remember?"

"No I didn't," Hermione protested, even though she knew it was pointless arguing.

"Lavender, are you drunk?" Harry asked, looking at her enormous baby bump.

"No, of course I'm not. I'm not stupid."

Hermione bit her tongue.

"Lavender and I have been very good," Luna said. "We haven't been drinking. I don't want to risk letting the gnargles in."

Hermione noticed Lavender sigh. She obviously wasn't a fan of Luna, but she soon covered up her annoyance to put on a united front.

"Why are you in a pub if two of you aren't drinking?" Juliet asked.

"How is that any your business?" Lavender replied rudely.

"Ginny, you knew I was going to be here," Harry said. "Why did you come here too?"

"It's a free country," Ginny shrugged.

"You are impossible sometimes," Harry said, obviously struggling to control his temper. "You said you were going to keep away from Hermione and Nev."

"That was before Luna came to me in tears, saying that Neville had cheated on her. It turns out," she said, raising her voice, so the rest of the pub could hear her, "Neville's just as selfish and cruel as Hermione."

"Yes," Luna said, with a steely edge to her voice that even Neville had only heard a few times before, "Although it's not Neville's fault. It's like you said, Ginny. Hermione knew what she was doing. She did it to hurt me because she was jealous that her relationship had broken down and Neville was happy with me."

"Luna, I always had you down as someone with a brain," Hermione said. "How can you be so stupid as to believe what Ginny says?"

"Don't call me stupid," Luna said, her usual dreamlike voice disappearing completely. "I'm angry enough as it is. Don't make me set the freshwater plimpies on you."

"Oh don't threaten me with that nonsense. Has no one told you that stuff isn't real yet? Are they still letting you walk around looking like an absolute idiot?"

"I'm not an idiot. You're closed-minded. You'll see next time you take a shower and your skin turns purple."

"Now I'm scared," Hermione said sarcastically. "Just leave us alone, and don't listen to those two!"

"They're my friends, not that I'd expect you to understand that. You don't know what friendship is. You don't care about other people, and you have no idea how to act around them without looking a complete fool and making them hate you."

"Look who's talking," Hermione snapped. "Who's the one who used to have their things stolen in school and was given the nickname 'Loony'? I don't think that was me!"

"You weren't picked on because you hid behind Harry and Ron, the most popular people in school. At least I was strong enough to look after myself."

"Anyway," Ginny said, cutting in to take the limelight again, "all this stuff about friendship is irrelevant now because she doesn't have any friends."

"Right, that's it!" Harry said angrily. "Ginny, I won't have this anymore. Leave Hermione and Neville alone. Without her, you might not have had many friends either. She saved the lives of everyone in this room during the war. People should be treating her like a hero, not like she's the devil. The only thing she did wrong is fall out of love with one person and in love with another. That's hardly a crime! I know former followers of Voldemort who are treated better than she is! Just let her get on with her life. Don't sell stories to the papers, don't pick fights with her, don't make her feel like an outcast. You were all friends with her. Well, two of you were," he said, glaring at Lavender. "You know she's a good person. I personally couldn't be happier that she's marrying Neville. You're right, Gin, they are perfect for each other. They are two of the kindest and most loyal people I've ever met, and I wish they'd be left alone."

The whole pub was silent when he'd finally finished speaking. Lavender and Luna looked shocked. Ginny looked furious. The rest of the people in the pub looked confused, but then slowly started clapping and cheering. As they left, Hermione noticed that for the first time in nearly a year, people were actually smiling at her!


	29. Chapter 29

**Well this is it: the wedding chapter! Apologies for some of the slushiness and some cheesy lines. My sister kept making retching sounds when she read some parts but I insisted on keeping them in. There's only the epilogue to go now and then this is finished. Look out for some of my other stuff which I'll be working on after this. I've got several things planned: another long fic, a few shorter ones, including one with a very strange pairing, several oneshots and additions to _War Isn't Over When It Ends _and a couple of Scrubs fics as well.  
**

**Thanks to all the reviewers and people who've added this to their faves and alerts! **

* * *

"Are there enough seats?" Hermione asked as Juliet helped her with her veil.

"Yes, more than enough. Hagrid's got four to himself and there are _still _some spare."

"Good, because my Gran can't be standing up. Oh, and is her seat at the end of a row?"

"Yes, Harry's sent everyone to the right seats. He's learnt your seating plan off by heart!"

"What about reporters? Even if most of them are being nice about us now, I still don't want any here"

"Hermione, calm down. Harry, Bernard and I have sorted everything. Today's going to be perfect," Juliet said, smoothing the veil over Hermione's unusually tidy hair, which she'd had charmed into ringlets by one of Diagon Alley's best beauticians. As soon as Harry had announced his support for the couple in the pub, Hermione and Neville had been getting hundreds of owls a day. Some were just from people apologising for being rude to them, but mostly from businesses wanting to help with the wedding in some way. They'd taken advantage of a couple of the offers, such as the beautician, which Hermione hadn't even thought about until then, but on the whole they'd stuck to their original plan.

"I know," Hermione smiled. "You've done a fantastic job. Thank you."

"No problem. I can't believe you and Nev are getting married!"

"Well, you predicted it, so you should be able to" Hermione laughed. "You told me that Nev was going to propose!"

"And remember how you reacted? You broke a teacup and then said you'd say no!"

"Then I changed my mind and said I would," Hermione pointed out.

"Yeah, you were an indecisive wreck," Juliet teased. "I'm only joking," she said as Hermione opened her mouth to argue.

"Never tease a nervous bride," Hermione laughed. "Not unless you want me to cry or shout or both!"

"Sorry! Well after everything that happened after I told you, with Bernard and everything," she smiled sadly, "the way you got through that just shows how perfect you two are for each other."

"That's a better thing to say to a bride," Hermione smiled.

"Good. I really mean it too," she said. "So what's going to happen in school next year? Are you going to live together next year? And are you going to be Professor Granger or Professor Longbottom?"

"I don't know yet," Hermione said, avoiding eye contact. "Are we finished?" she asked the beautician, who was starting to pack her brushes away. "What do you think, Julie?"

"Oh Hermione," Juliet gasped. "You look beautiful! Neville's so lucky!"

"I don't scrub up too badly, do I?" Hermione laughed.

"'Too badly?' You look amazing," Hermione's mother said, stepping into the tent where they were changing. "Sorry I took so long to get here! We had to make sure Aunt Daisy didn't wander away from the organ. She'll never find it again if she does! I'm so proud of you, darling. You look just like I did on my wedding day! And Juliet, you look lovely too."

"Thanks," Juliet said, blushing. "I think I'll just go and check on Harry and Aunt Daisy and leave you two alone for a minute. See you in a bit."

"So," Hermione's mother said, "my daughter's getting married! Nervous?"

"A little," Hermione admitted. "It's a big deal, but I'm excited too. I can't wait for married life with Nev!"

"I think he's the one for you," her mother smiled. "I've had a good feeling about him ever since he sent us a letter about going to his Gran's for Christmas. Your dad's just gone to give him The Talk about looking after you, but I don't think he needs it."

"Oh Mum! Why didn't you stop him? The last thing we need is Dad scaring Nev before the wedding! And he knows not to accidentally break any _important news_ to Bernard doesn't he?"

"Yes, he knows. I reminded him before he went in. And I wouldn't worry about Nev," her mum laughed. "I think your dad's just after a quick drink, rather than lecturing Neville. He loves that buttercream stuff."

"Butterbeer," Hermione corrected her. "I hope that's all they're doing. I don't want poor Nev to be walking down the aisle shaking!"

...

"Thanks for finding this, Bernard," Neville said, raising his glass of butterbeer.

"Yes, thank you," Hermione's father said. "I love this drink. Ever since Christmas I've been trying to find a similar one outside the wizarding world, but I haven't had any luck."

"You'll be easy to buy for at Christmas then, Neil," Neville laughed. "There's going to be plenty at the bar at the reception too."

"Great," Neil smiled. "Now, I'm meant to be giving you the scary father talk, but I don't need to tell you to treat my little girl well, do I? You've been doing well so far and I know you'll be just as good in the future."

"Of course I will," Neville said. "I'm going to be proud to call her my wife, Neil and I'm going to carry on treating her with the love and respect she deserves."

"And I'm going to be proud to call you my son-in-law," Neil said warmly. "I'd better be off to see her now. I'm sure she has some precise way she wants me to walk her down the aisle!"

"He seems nice," Bernard said, when Neil had left.

"Yeah, he is," Neville smiled. "I could have much worse."

"I have to meet Julie's father over the summer. Apparently he's this old, grumpy professor type. He's helping us with our research and if he likes me, he might help us get our findings published."

"Oh, well that's good," Neville said. "So why do you sound like you're dreading it?"

"Well, he's going to hate me, isn't he? Even if Julie hasn't told him about how I was a terrible, emotionally unstable, childish boyfriend, Jennifer will have and he's going to hate me for upsetting his daughter. Never mind that that whole incident showed me that I had to change. Never mind that I treat Julie with the respect she deserves now, not that fake charm and politeness, and that I think she's brilliant. He's still not going to like me because I made her cry a few months ago."

"Bernard, you're one of the nicest, most sincere men I know. You can make anyone like you. You've even made Hermione come round, and she's one of the most stubborn people I know. She hated you a few months ago but now she considers you a close friend," Neville said.

"Sorry," Bernard said, blushing. "It's your wedding day, and you're listening to me moan. I didn't even think about that until you mentioned Hermione."

"It's fine," Neville smiled. "I can't have an unhappy best man, can I?"

"Just don't let me mope and ruin your day," Bernard said. "I can worry about it whenever I want over the summer, but today is too important for little things like that. You're a great friend though, Nev; you comforted me on your own wedding day. Thanks for being there all these years, and thanks in advance for being there in future."

Neville smiled, although his eyes looked worried.

"You're going to be a fantastic husband," Bernard continued, "and I couldn't be happier for you and Hermione. Like Harry said, you're perfect for each other, and you're going to have a wonderful marriage."

"Everyone's seated and waiting, Neville," his gran said, poking her head through the tent flaps.

"Where's Harry?" Neville asked. Harry was the one in charge of putting people in their seats and letting them know when to start.

"He's been given the job of holding Aunt Daisy down on the organ stool," his gran said. "Total nutcase, that one!"

"Are Mum and Dad here?" Neville asked.

"Yes, they're very excited. They've had to bring an extra two Healers down, just in case something happens. They'd be proud of you if they understood what was going on," she said, and Neville was surprised to see tears in her eyes. The only emotion he'd ever seen his gran show was anger when she'd told him off when he was a child. "I'm proud of you too. When I see you and Hermione, it's just like seeing your parents when they were young. You're a good boy, Neville."

"Thanks Gran," Neville said, clearing his throat. "We'd better get going then, hadn't we?"

As Neville stepped out of the tent, he was taken aback for a moment by the way the field looked. When he'd gone in the tent to get dressed, it'd just been a plain field. His friends had obviously worked hard on it since then though, as there were flowers growing which weren't there before, all various shades of pink and red and they'd made an arch out of two leaning trees with colourful blossoms.

"It was an old multicoloured fancy dress wig," Bernard said quietly, as they made their way to the front. "Some of Juliet's best work."

Even more colourful than the flowers was the congregation. Neville's family and the Hogwarts teachers were wearing long robes of various colours and patterned capes, while the Muggles looked much cooler in the sun wearing bright summer dresses or colourful shirts and ties. Jennifer, who had brought the Slytherin Head Boy, Tom with her was bridging the gap between the wizards' and the Muggles' clothing in a red sundress and a gold cape and matching pointy hat.

Aunt Daisy began to play something which vaguely resembled the wedding march on the organ in the corner (formerly a child's keyboard, according to Bernard) and Hermione began her walk down the aisle. The rest of the colour in the field faded to grey in Neville's eyes, while Hermione's sparkling brown eyes, glossy dark hair and bright white dress became even more colourful. As she came to stand opposite him, he noticed she was wearing the bracelet he'd got her for Christmas. Taking her hand, he ran his finger along the inside where the inscription was. _I love you._

The Ministry official began the service with a Muggle prayer, which Hermione had insisted on to keep her older relatives happy. Then they moved onto the vows, which they'd written themselves in keeping with wizarding tradition. Hermione went first.

"Just over a year ago, I was in desperate need of friends. I found you, and I'm so glad I did. You were one of the best friends I've ever had, and that's why I'm so happy that we've ended up falling in love. I'm sure that there's no one more perfect for me than you. That's why I'm going to do my best to make our married life perfect. I know sometimes it's going to be difficult, but I promise to do my best in every aspect of it. I love you Neville; I can't wait to start this new stage of our life together."

Neville felt choked up. He'd had no idea Hermione was going to write something like that. She wasn't usually as gushy and sentimental as that. It made him feel honoured that she could open up like that for him. Clearing his throat, he started to read his vows.

"Hermione, I've been trying to find the words to explain how I feel about you ever since I met you again last summer. I know I failed miserably when I first told you I loved you and although I did better when I proposed, I'm sure you remember that I said I still couldn't properly find the words but I'd try to by the wedding. Well, here we are and I'm sorry to say I still can't find the words to say how much I love you. I've been thinking about it though and I came to the conclusion that I'm struggling because there aren't any words that exist that could come close to helping me express the enormity of my love for you. I decided then that because I can't tell you how much I love you, I'm going to show you how much I do, every day for the rest of our lives."

"I already know how much you love me," she whispered, tears streaming down her face, "and I love you just as much, if not more, if that's possible."

They exchanged their wedding rings, which were made by goblins and were invisible until after the marriage register was signed, when they glowed gold. After a rendition of Morning Has Broken with a strangely jazzy organ part, Hermione and Neville walked back down the aisle as man and wife, hand in hand, as confetti rained down on them.

Juliet transfigured the chairs into tables, which Hermione insisted on pushing together so that everyone was sat around one big table. When the food was finished and everyone had convinced Hagrid to eat all the leftovers, Hermione's father stood up to make a speech.

"I know you said you didn't want any speeches, but I just want to tell you two how happy I am for you both. We had a few stressful situations earlier," he said, pointing at his tie, which was exactly the same colour as Juliet's pink bridesmaid's dress. "It's not a coincidence," he laughed. "But anyway, we got there in the end. I'm sure everyone will agree that it was a beautiful service and we should thank Bernard, Juliet and Harry for that." He paused, while everyone clapped. "So, if everyone could raise their glasses to Neville and Hermione."

"To Neville and Hermione," the crowd chorused.

"One more thing, before you go back to chatting and everything," Harry said. "I just want to offer my congratulations to Hermione and Nev and also to ask everyone here to do something for them. I'm sure you all saw the news of my outburst in the Daily Prophet a couple of months ago. You're all friends with our happy couple and I want you to make sure they're treated with the kindness and respect they deserve. There are still some people who might try and give them a hard time. Don't let them. Let next year be a much more pleasant one for them. Congratulations you two!"

The crowd clapped and got up to leave the table to dance to the music that had just started.

"Actually," Neville said, "we've got an announcement to make too. Thank you for what you just said, Harry. People have been much kinder to us in the past few months, although you're right: there are a few who are still pretty nasty. We want to have a child in the next year or so and we can see that some people will use that as an excuse to start giving out more abuse."

"So," Hermione said, "we've decided we're going to move to France for a few years. My family has a place in the countryside and we think it's the ideal place to raise a child, away from people who might cause us problems." She looked around the crowd and was pleased to see that Bernard and Juliet didn't look angry, although they did seem a bit upset.

"We'll still be around though," Neville said. "We'll be apparating back every month or so to visit my parents so we'll still see you all, just not as often."

The shock started to wear off after a minute or so and everyone began clapping and offering their support. Hermione and Neville were pleased. They were worried their friends would be angry with them for leaving, but they were very understanding.

The music started up again and everyone formed a circle around Hermione and Neville, who began their first dance as husband and wife against the backdrop of the sunset.

"We've done it, Nev," Hermione smiled.

"And I couldn't be happier," Neville replied. "I love you, Mrs Longbottom."


	30. Epilogue: 12 years later

**Well, this it! This is where we say goodbye to Hermione and Neville. Hopefully I've managed to tie everything up ok.**

**Thanks for reviewing and everything over the course of this fic. I really appreciate it!

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"Nev," Hermione shouted from the bedroom, "can you _still _not move your shirts without hitting me on the head, even after all this time?"

"Sorry," Neville called. "But if I remember correctly, you told me you'd teach me!"

"Well, I was too busy with other things that year, wasn't I?" Hermione laughed, carrying the shirts in to him. "Come on, pack these up quickly! Alice, don't just sit around! Is your room empty now?"

"Yes," Alice sighed, tossing her curly dark hair. "It has been for hours."

"Go and help Lucy with her books then," Hermione told her. "We've got a lot to do today before Bernard and Juliet get here to help us get everything back to Hogwarts."

"You've started her off again now," Neville muttered, although he was still smiling.

"Ooh I can't wait!" Alice said, bouncing up and down. "Will I be in Gryffindor?

"I don't know, sweetheart," Neville said. "But whatever house you're in, we'll be proud of you. They're all equally good."

"But I want to be in Gryffindor! Or Hufflepuff! It'll be so easy with one of you two as my head of house! I'll never get in trouble!"

"It doesn't work like that, Alice. You won't get any special treatment just because your dad and I teach," Hermione said sternly.

"I know. I'm only joking," Alice laughed. "When are Bernard and Juliet getting here? Or do I have to call them Professor Stokes and Professor Taylor now?"

"You'll have to adjust to calling them different names in and out of school times," Hermione said. "Now stop trying to avoid helping and find Lucy and sort her books with her."

"Ok," Alice said, skipping off.

"I can't believe we're going to have a child in Hogwarts," Neville said. "Where have the past twelve years gone?"

"In a blur of happy marriage of course," Hermione laughed. "Don't ask silly questions! Are we done with packing clothes now?"

"Yes, just my shoes to go now. You know, I found some of your old clothes in the back of that wardrobe."

"Really? So much stuff gets lost in there! We should've just kept the muggle one. What did you find?"

"The top you wore that time we went to the pub and we had the kiss that doesn't count and I found the red dress you wore to the Halloween ball."

"Oh that was a nice one," Hermione said, smiling to herself. "I'd never fit into it now though."

"You're still gorgeous," Neville said, giving her a quick kiss. "I found your wedding dress too. It's packed in one of those boxes there. It's still got grass stains on the hem."

"I was so annoyed when I saw those back at the hotel," Hermione sighed. "I tried to wash it in the bath, remember?"

"Yeah, but I managed to distract you, didn't I?" Neville laughed.

"You did," Hermione smiled. "I have a feeling I might need distracting tonight too. We'd be back in my quarters like we were the first time."

"You're not going to get much argument from me!" Neville said, moving to kiss her again, just as the doorbell rang.

"It's Bernard and Juliet," Alice and Lucy squealed, running down the stairs to the front door.

"Hello you two," Bernard smiled.

"Have you brought anything for us?" Lucy asked.

"Lucy!" Alice scolded. "You can't just ask them if they've got us presents!"

"Well, we were only lecturing in Paris this time," Juliet said.

"Oh," the two girls sighed. Over the years, Bernard and Juliet had been all over the world giving lectures in wizarding summer schools about their findings of their research about runes and ancient magical languages and they'd always brought back presents for Alice and Lucy. They'd never bought them anything from France though, seeing as the girls lived there.

"But," Bernard said with a grin, "seeing as you're not going to be living in France anymore, we bought you a little something each."

"I hope you like them," Juliet said, putting a novelty oversized beret on each of the girls' heads.

"Oh, we do!" Alice said, throwing her arms around her godparents. "Thank you!"

"Girls, are Lucy's books in their boxes?" Neville asked.

"Not yet," Lucy said.

"Go and finish packing them then and _then _you can talk to Bernard and Juliet. We have to leave soon."

"But she has so many books," Alice complained.

"You're just like your mother, Lucy," Bernard laughed. "Do you want me to help?"

"That'd be great, if you don't mind," Hermione said. "I'm sure they get distracted up there."

"I don't! Lucy does though!" Alice said. "She always stops to read them."

"I'm afraid I might have that problem too," Bernard laughed. "You two are going to have to keep an eye on me otherwise we'll never leave and your mum'll be cross with me! Let's go then, girls."

"I know, I know," Juliet said, before Hermione could open her mouth. "We spoil them, but as I've said hundreds of times before: they're the closest thing we have to children."

"It's still not too late for you two to have your own," Hermione said. "I mean, I know all your time's been taken up with teaching and lecturing, but you could drop some of it if you wanted to start a family. You'd be really good parents; you're great with our girls!"

"I suppose so, but we've always said the marriage and children thing isn't for us. Besides, we're both muggle-born and getting on a bit so it probably isn't very safe. We're happy with the way things are now; we love our jobs and we love spoiling your children. There's my little nephew too, don't forget so we've got more than enough kids to be dealing with!"

"Oh, how is he, by the way?" Neville asked,. "I heard he'd got himself into a bit of a scrape."

"He's fine now thanks. You can tell his parents are a Ravenclaw and a Slytherin! He managed to sneak his way past the House Elf who was watching him and find his way down to the Greenhouses. Tom and the students had a bit of a shock when he popped out of a flowerpot halfway through the class. He just had a few scratches though so he's fine."

"Very lucky though," Neville said. "Imagine if he'd ended up in a different pot. Some of those plants are very dangerous!"

"I know," Juliet nodded. "That's why they're glad you two are coming back to take their jobs. They're going to live in Tom's family home, which is probably a safer place to raise a toddler."

"We'll have to keep an eye on that one when he comes to Hogwarts," Neville laughed.

"I can think of another one we're going to have to be careful of: Lavender and Ron's daughters," Hermione sighed.

"Oh, Honeysuckle and Wisteria. They're not too bad. Honeysuckle's a bit vain and Wisteria gets a bit stroppy but they're nice enough. They're in Gryffindor, so it's pretty likely Alice will be seeing a lot of them."

"Oh dear! Out of all the flower names Lavender could've picked," Neville sighed.

"She told us she was going to call them Daisy and Violet," Hermione said, "and I thought _they_ were bad enough. The only flower name I like is Rose. I'm going to regret asking this, but what are her other children called?"

"I can't remember. Harry's mentioned them once or twice, but I can't think of what they're called. Ah, Bernard," she said as he stumbled down the stairs carrying several boxes, followed by Lucy and Alice who had one box each, "what are Lavender and Ron's other kids called?"

"Apart from Honeysuckle?" Bernard asked, dropping the boxes on the floor with a groan. "The girls insisted on me doing it the muggle way, seeing as they couldn't shrink the boxes or levitate them," he explained to his confused-looking friends.

"You always used to take pride in doing things for yourself, without magic," Neville said.

"Before I got too old and unfit," Bernard laughed, summoning a cup of tea. "Anyway, sorry, what were we saying?"

"The Weasley children. What are they called?" Juliet asked.

"There's Florian. He's about ten I think," Bernard said, "and Hyacinth, who's about seven or eight. Celandine's four and then there's baby Sylvain."

"It doesn't look like Ron got any say in the names!" Neville said. "Luna's boys have got some interesting names too, haven't they? You'd expect that from her though."

"Yes, Lorcan and Lysander," Juliet said. "They're very similar to her."

"Do you know anyone who's going to be in First Year with me?" Alice asked.

"Only James," Bernard said. "I'm sure they'll all be very nice though."

"I hope so," Alice said. "I hope it's not just me and James and then a load of Slytherins!"

"Even so, you and James will be fine, won't you?" Hermione smiled. When they'd gone to visit Neville's parents, they'd always left the girls with Harry and his children and they'd all become good friends, which was nice, seeing as there weren't many children in the area where they lived in France. "Just ignore anything his mother says."

"She's a bit better now anyway. She apparently told Harry she was glad you two were going to be teaching James because he'll definitely learn with you," Juliet said.

"Did she really?" Hermione asked, shocked. "Maybe she's starting to be a tiny bit more accepting then. Still, be careful if you happen to come into contact with her, Alice."

"I know. James says Harry won't let her be mean to us anyway."

"He won't. Harry's the best!" Lucy said. She loved her godfather. "When can we go and see him?"

"Well," Hermione said, looking around, "has everyone finished their tea?"

Juliet and Bernard nodded, washed out their cups with their wands and put them in a box.

"In that case," Neville smiled, "I think we can go now."

"Say goodbye to your first home, girls," Hermione said, shrinking boxes and putting them into bags for her, Neville, Bernard and Juliet to carry.

"Bye house," Lucy said, beginning to cry.

"Don't get upset, love," Neville said, "You're going to love Hogwarts. It's your Mum's and my favourite place to be! Come on, it's time to Floo."

Bernard and Juliet went first to make sure that the girls ended up in the right place and then Alice and Lucy followed excitedly.

"Make sure you get out at the right fireplace," Hermione called after them.

"It's time to go home," Neville smiled, handing her the Floo Powder pot.

Hermione took the powder and followed Neville into the fireplace. A minute later they stepped out into the Headteacher's office, where they were greeted by Harry, Minerva, Jennifer and Tom.

"Welcome back," Minerva smiled. "It's good to see you both here again. Even Severus is happy you're back," she said, pointing to his portrait behind her desk. He scowled. "He really is," she laughed. "Your daughters have gone with Juliet and Bernard to see where they'll be living. I expect you'll want to join them, so I won't keep you. We'll all have dinner tonight here though and we'll talk then."

"We just came to see you before we leave to go to Tom's," Jennifer said. "Keep in touch, and I'm sure we'll be seeing you in a few years anyway, when Jacob comes here."

"I'm sure we'll be seeing each other a lot before then too," Neville smiled.

"Come on," Harry said, "I'll walk you to your quarters, not that it's changed much, but I'd quite like to have a nose in the Gryffindor Common Room."

"It hasn't changed at all," Hermione gasped as she walked into the corridor. She didn't know why she'd expected the school to look any different; it hadn't changed the whole time she'd been there as a student and as a teacher. Still, she was pleased to see that it was still the same.

"I know. It's great, isn't it?" Harry said. "I'm so glad you two are back! I suddenly feel twelve years younger!"

"You don't look it," Neville teased.

"I think I should rephrase that: I'm so glad _Hermione's _back," Harry joked. "Here we are."

They walked into Hermione's old quarters and were immediately pounced on by excited children.

"It's amazing here!" Alice said, bouncing up and down. "I can't believe this is my _school_!"

"My room's huge," Lucy said excitedly, "and my bed's really bouncy!"

"Really?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, do you want to try?" Lucy asked.

Hermione and Neville sat on their old sofa with their friends and summoned a bottle of wine to celebrate, knocking over the unsteady towel rail in the process, making Neville turn scarlet as an old memory came back to him.

"We've got lots of good memories from here," Hermione laughed, noticing his blush.

"That one's hardly a good memory," Neville said.

"Well, you weren't wearing anything apart from a teatowel, so it's a very good memory as far as I'm concerned," she smirked.

"I don't think we want to know, do we?" Harry laughed.

"It's so weird," Neville said. "We're back in Hogwarts, where this all started, but we've come such a long way since then."

"Yes," Hermione said. "I feel quite proud of all of us actually. It hasn't been easy, has it? Let's hope the rest of our Hogwarts days are a bit less stressful. I can't see there being any drama now."

"It's never going to be quiet here though," Bernard chuckled. "But still," he said raising his glass, "to the road ahead."

"To the road ahead," they said, smiling.


End file.
